When Everything Goes Upsidedown
by Peace968
Summary: Forrest, a conserved girl, goes on a Pokemon adventure in the Kalos region, but when a mysterious group of villians known as Ultimia comes on the scene, everything just goes upsidedown. (Similar to the Pokemon x/y game with a few twists) ..First story, Horray!..
1. Chapter 1: The First Friend

-Forrest-

I felt the cool earth beneath my feet. Soft grass tickled my feet as I bathed in the soft glow of the sun gleaming through a crack in the foliage. The forest around me played the soft melody of life, and I thought, _this is true_ beauty. I wish beauty like this could truly last, but...BRIIIINNNNNG.

I opened my eyes to see a faint bit of moonlight filtering through the window. I slapped the off button of the alarm clock and saw the bright red numbers 5:30. Most people make fun of me for waking up so early, on a weekend none the less, but I didn't mind. I was already different from the other kids anyway. They had dreams of being famous or a hero that saves the world, but all I wanted to do was run through the forest with no restrictions. Maybe that thought came from a life of moving and big expectations from the daughter of the _amazing _rhyhorn racer aka my over achieving mom. She expected so many great things from me that I never wanted to do, but life could have been worse.

I dragged myself out of bed. The early morning was so peaceful and silent with only the occasional chirp of the few fletchling that decided to wake up at this hour. I walked over to the mirror in my room with my pink pajamas making the softest of shuffling sounds and did my best neaten my messy hair. Sigh, my hair, just one more thing that set me apart from the other kids. My fairly long hair had the odd coloring of the purest white with a fringe of midnight black along the ends. My mom had tried to dye my completely black once, so I could at least fit in with the other kids a little bit. For some reason my hair refused to be dyed. The next day the dye had already worn off, and my mom decided she wouldn't waste the money for the dye.

Once I had made my hair presentable, I stretched and started towards the bathroom connected to my room. I brushed my teeth and washed my face infront of the mirror. At least my face was fairly average with two sky blue eyes, a simple nose, and slightly pale skin. I dried my face and decided now was a good a time as any to get dressed. I changed into a simple white tank top and some dark blue shorts. Riding rhyhorns and running all day made me quite in shape if a bit short for my age, so my small cloths barely took up a third of the large closet I was given. Because of this, the other two thirds hid some of my Pokemon posters. I put my favorite necklace on that had a charm of my favorite Pokemon, absol.

Now that I was ready for the day, I picked up my sketch book and opened up my window. I hopped onto the roof and pull out the pencil I kept in my sketch book. This was one of my favorite things to do in the morning, just watching the dawning sun and drawing. The roof gave me a perfect view as the sun creeped up from the horizon, and the moon fell to the earth, saying good-bye till next night.

I opened up my sketch book and most of its pictures were of absols, but there was other Pokemon drawn too. Today I started a drawing of a mother charizard sleeping with her baby charmander on a sheltered mountian platue. Once the sun was fully in the sky, I was about to add the final detail to the picture when-

"Forrest! It's time for breakfast, and you know how I feel about you sitting on the roof like that," my mom called. Forrest. Yep, that's my name. It's somewhat ironic considering my one dream, but it was either that or Anastasia. Honestly I'd much rather be Forrest.

"Don't worry, I'm coming!" I shouted back. I jumped back inside and set my sketch book on the dresser before heading downstairs. I went down the stairs as silently as possible. It was a little game I like to play to see how softly I could step, and I found out if you step on the sides of the stairs there will be less of that creaking sound. I also started to have a habit of stepping toe to heel instead of the normal heel to toe method of walking. Just another thing kids made fun of me for.

I sat down at the table and ate a breakfast of strawberry toast and MooMoo milk. Once I finished breakfast my mom finally decided to finish in the shower. I took showers at night since I always ended up coming home caked in mud from rhyhorn racing.

"Hi sweety, was your breakfast good?" my mom questioned.

"It was great. So where are we racing today?" I replied doing my best to sound excited for the day, and if I do say so myself, I had become quite the actor over the years.

"Actually, there is no rhyhorn training for today," my mom stated in somewhat dissapointment.

"There isn't?" I stated incrediously. The only time I didn't have rhyhorn training was when we were preparing to move, and my mom would always tell me the day before we moved after rhyhorn practice. This had to be something big, and I was almost worried she was taking me on a shopping spree again. It happened when my mom decided that I needed more clothes, and it never ended well.

"Yes, instead of rhyhorn training, Professor Sycamore has asked me to let you help him with his reasearch, and I decided you should go," my mom stated. I was a little cautious about this research, but anything was better than rhyhorn racing.

"Alright, I'm all for it. Where do I go?" I replied.

"The Professor said to go to Aquacorde Town," my mom stated as she started to eat her breakfast. I picked up my bag and tossed my sketch book in it. I left the house and breathed in the pleasant smells of the outdoors. It was a beautiful fall day with the sun shining bright above the trees with their color changing leaves. The cloudless sky was such a nice light blue that I couldn't help but stare. Soon I heard a door opening with an obnoxious creak from the house next door to me.

I looked in the direction of the noise and saw my neighbor, Calem, coming out of his house with a determined look on his face. Calem isn't too bad if you take away the fact that his life is so much better than mine. His parents are veteran trainers, and he has so many Pokemon to play with in his house. For another thing, he actually knew _both _of his parent when I never had much of a connection with my mom, and my dad is who knows where. I wasn't jealous of him, but sometimes he made me think of what it was like to actually have a loving and caring family that loved you for you and not how well you did on the racetrack. This sometimes made me feel awkward around him, but he saw that I was uncomfortable and let me be. Out of all the new kids I had met at school Calem was probably the best one. He didn't flock to me as the new kid, and he didn't shy away from me as the dissapointment of the famous rhyhorn racer's daughter.

Today, Calem was wearing a blue jacket with some simple black pants. His hair was slightly more brushed that usual, and his leafy green eyes shimmered with that determined look. Calem looked over and noticed me staring.

Calem walked over and commented, "Nice day, right?"

I nodded and replied, "Yes, quite nice." I was prepared to leave this conversation as soon as possible, but Calem apparently wasn't.

"Your mom told me that you're also doing the request of Professor Sycamore," Calem stated. Curse my mom and her need for me to make friends. I quess I'm stuck with this situation now.

"I assume you're doing it too," I stated even though it was quite obvious that he was.

"Yeah, I am, and I'm pretty excited too," Calem replied.

"Well...that's nice," I stated. I was starting to become uncomfortable with the conversation, and I started to go into my habit of clutching my arm when I'm nervous.

Calem apparently noticed my stress and stated, "I'll see you at Aquacorde Town. Bye for now." With that he raced off towards the path leading to Aquacorde Town. I silently thanked him on the inside for leaving and instantly relaxed.

I looked back to the sky and thought, _how am I ever going to deal with another person in the research study. At least it's only Calem. _Little did I know that it was going to be much harder than only Calem.

-Calem-

I was already at route one by the time I stopped running and thought that Forrest wouldn't catch up to me. Forrest was quite the enigma. She was very brave considering how she practiced rhyhorn racing, a dangerous sport, but she never really talked to anyone. You might be able to have an awkward conversation every once and a while like I did earlier, but that was a rare occasion indeed. She also had a tendency to sneak up on people. I don't know how she did it or if it was on purpose or not, but her odd gait might explain it.

I shook my head, it was too good a day to think about those kinds of questions. The sun was shining, the fletchling were chirping, and I was going to help The Professor Sycamore with research. Maybe I could even sneak a pokeball and catch a Pokemon. Then I could finally go on a Pokemon adventure like my parents did.

These thoughts were swimming about my head as I entered Auqacorde Town.

"Hey! Calem, over here!"

I looked in the direction of noise and mentally sighed. There was Shauna, in her usual pink t-shirt and skinny jeans, waving eccentrically like there was no tomorrow. Her brown pig-tails that seemed to defy gravity bounced up and down as Tierno and Trevor, who were sitting behind her at the cafe, slapped thier foreheads.

Tierno and Trevor had to be the oddest duo of friends at the school. Tierno was a little _round _for his age and had a dream to be the greatest dancer ever. Today he was wearing a large black t-shirt and baggy beige shorts. Trevor, who probably was almost the exact opposite of Tierno, was stick thin, and he was even shorter than Forrest, who was quite short for her age. Trevor was always tinkering some sort of science project, and he had the dream of being a top notch scientist. He was wearing a gray vest and had a slightly lighter beige than Tierno's for his pants.

"Come on Calem, sit down," Shauna beckond enthusiastically. I sat down cautiously in the simple red chair on the right side of the table. Shauna made a big show of plopping into the chair, and started to twitch her foot anxiously in the silence.

Sadly, a peaceful quiet can't happen around Shauna. "So, does anyone know who the fifth helper is because my mother said that Professor Sycamore chose five kids to help out with the research and-" Shauna kept going on and on about whatever else happened to pop into her mind.

At one point my mind just wandered off, and it wasn't until I heard the unatural silence that had descended upon everyone, even Shauna, that I snapped out of my trance. I looked in the direction that everyone was looking in, and saw Forrest standing awkwardly in front of the group. She was clutching her arm which I knew ment she was nervous. For some reason no one else noticed this habit of hers, but I guess if you were afriad of her like Tierno and Trevor, who were just starting to recover from shock, you wouldn't really bother to notice something as simple as a habit.

I felt a little bad for Forrest, everybody either viewed her as the daughter of the famous rhyhorn racer or the oddball with the unatural looking hair color. At least she actually has a parent who actually talks to her, unlike mine who are always out battling other veterans for fun. If it wasn't for their Pokemon, who actually bother to play with me, I would have already ran away, never to return.

Forrest walked over to the table with that odd gait of hers, and I barely heard the soft whisper of her feet. Forrest slowly sat down and even Shauna was quiet.

To break the awkwardness of the moment, I questioned, "So, does any one know when the Professor's coming?" Trevor and Tierno shifted uncomfortably at this.

"Well, Professor Sycamore had an important meeting and he couldn't come to meet us," Trevor answered. That statement broke my dreams in half. Now I was never going to have a pokemon. My parents would never let me go out to Route 2 because it was soo dangerous without a pokemon, and I'd never be allowed to bring my parents Pokemon. Something about trainer's honor or along those lines.

I looked around at the others. Shauna was still her same jumpy self and probably wasn't even listening to what Trevor said. Forrest's expression showed that she was expecting something like this if a bit disappointed.

"Hey he didn't finish yet guys," Tierno stated. I picked my head up a bit at this, maybe their was still hope. Maybe he just rescheduled the research.

"Thanks Trevor. Now, as I was starting to say, Professor Sycamore couldn't come, but he told Tierno and me what to do. He wants us to fill out the pokedex and meet him in Lumiose City," Trevor stated.

"Wait, wouldn't we need Pokemon for that?" Shauna questioned. Trevor face palmed again, but I barely noticed the comment. I was about to explode with excitement. I was finally going to have my own pokemon, and start my very own journey to challenge the Pokemon League. I would do what my parents couldn't and beat the League. Even Forrest seemed a little more interested than before.

"Anyway, Professor Sycamore gave me this." Trevor pulled out a case and continued, "Tierno and I already received our Pokemon so you three can choose out of the three Pokemon in the case."

"OMG! We're getting pokemon!" Shauna exclaimed. Shauna could be a little dull sometimes.

"Yes, Shauna, that's what I just said. Now moving on, let's pick the Pokemon." Trevor opened the case and pick out three pokeballs. He threw the pokeballs into the air and out came a chespin, a fennekin, and a froakie. Upon seeing the Pokemon and truly realizing what this meant, I just couldn't help but smile.

-Forrest-

I looked at the three pokemon in front of me and thought about if I really wanted to be a trainer. I didn't really like the idea of keeping pokemon in pokeballs, but the pros heavily outweighed the cons.

Shauna instantly went for the chespin and exclaimed, "You are the most adorable thing ever!" The chespin, who was locked in a death grip hug, actually had a big smile on her face. Yes, I could tell between a boy and girl pokemon. It was that hard if you knew what to look for. For example, I could tell the other two pokemon were boys because the fennekin had longer ear tufts and the froakie had a shorter vat, the scarf like appendage on his neck.

Since Shauna obviously picked the chespin, I looked at the fennekin and froakie. The froakie was staring determinedly at the two of us as if he was saying that he would do the best for whomever decided to pick him. The fennekin was hiding behind the froakie, telling me that he was shy and didn't know if he wanted to go into the dangerous wilds of the Kalos region.

I kneeled down in front of the fennekin put my hand out. The fennekin cautiously looked at my hand and backed up a step.

"Hey, it's alright," I coaxed. "The world can be a scary place, but if you face it with your head held high, then you can do anything."

The fennekin seemed comforted by the soft voice and rubbed his soft head on my hand like a purrlion does. He started to make a sound similar to purring as I thought about a name for him. The fennekin was obviously born in captivity like all starters are, so he probably didn't have any other name.

Calem, seeing that I had chosen the fennekin, picked up the froakie and stated, "Are you ready the challenge the Pokemon League, Froakie?"

"Keh-kee," Froakie determinedly replied. Calem went over to Trevor and picked up Froakie's pokeball. Shauna, who had already picked up her pokeball, was already putting a bow on the excitable chespin, who was now named Chester.

I had finally thought of a name for the fennekin, and it was pretty good too. Well at least I thought so.

"How do you like the name LightHero?" I asked the shy fennekin.

"Feh!" the fennekin, now known as LightHero, happily replied. I smiled and walked over to Trevor with the fennekin following right next to me.

Trevor shakily handed me LightHero's pokeball and instantly relaxed once I left. I knew Trevor and his friend Tierno always tried to stay away from me. Most people did. For some reason, everywhere I go I bring disaster. Either the school football team starts to have a losing streak, or the weather starts to worsen. Perhaps that was why I liked absol so much. I guess I felt I could truly connect with something that was basically the pokemon version of me.

I looked at LightHero and suddenly realized, "You're my very first friend aren't you, LightHero?"

"Feh-keh!"


	2. Chapter 2: The Adventure Beggins

**I forgot to do this in the first chapter, but I do not own Pokemon and have no plans to sell any of this for profit. If I did own Pokemon there would have already been such a thing as a rainbow unicorn pokemon. :)**

-Forrest-

"Calem! Do you wanna have a Pokemon battle!" Shauna exclaimed jumping up and down with Chester, completely covered in ribbons, jumping right along with her.

"Um, don't you think you should take those ribbons off first," Calem questioned as he sweat-dropped.

"Why would I do that when it soo long to put them on?" Shauna pouted.

"Cheh-pa," Chester added in agreement.

Something was sireously wrong with that chespin, and it wasn't the fact that she had a boy's name when she was obviously a girl. Chester gave me an uneasy feeling. When she was up in front of the three of us, waiting to be picked, she seemed calm enough, but when she was chosen by Shauna, she instantly copied Shauna's personality. While I had heard that starter pokemon raised in captivity sometimes did this, it scared me deeply that Shauna happened to have one, especially since she had that condition...

I had to test something out.

"I'll battle if you want Shauna," I stated in my best challenging voice.

Shauna looked like a deer in headlights for a moment before a large smirk spread across her face. Shauna's demeanor change wasn't a surprise at all. Shauna just so happened to have split personalities. One moment she was the happy, go-lucky girl that skipped down the hallways, then the next she was the conniving mastermind that was able to stay ontop of the school's complex hierarchy of girls. I remembered my mom asking her parents about, but they seemed to pretend not to notice. I guess it was because she always had good grades and would never refuse to do the hardest chores.

Chester also changed demeanor, just as I thought she would. Her eyes no longer shined with that playful gleam, and she no longer looked cute and cuddly in those ribbons. LightHero also noticed the change and put his guard up.

"Alright, I accept the challenge, but how about we up the ante," Shauna declared with that smirk still playing across her lips. I shuddered a bit on the inside from her tone of voice.

"What kind of ante?" I questioned. I almost wished I had never asked that.

"How about if you win, I'll forget about what happened last week, but if I win, you hand over that necklace of yours," Shauna declared.

I froze up for a moment, just a moment. Apparently, Shauna had found out about my life value of repaying debts, and that I loved my absol necklace. I've had that necklace since who knows when, and there was never a day I wasn't wearing it. On the other hand, I had accidentally knocked Shauna's books into the school garbage when she was in her "mastermind mode". Trust me when I say that having your books knocked into the school garbage is worse than carvanha infested waters.

I was fraught with indecision, but in the end I tossed my necklace over to Calem. I would have tossed it to Tierno or Trevor, who were closer, but they would have broken it, calling it a hex piece.

"I knew you would come to the right decision. Let's win this, Chester," Shauna stated with confidence. Chester stepped up with an unnerving quietness that sent shivers down my spine.

"You ready, LightHero?" I asked my shy fennekin. LightHero stepped up with a little yip, and readied his stance.

I had had only a second to think of a strategy before Shauna commanded, "Chester, use vine wip!"

"LightHero, try using a strong growl and follow it up with an ember!" I countered.

Off to the side, Trevor and Tierno were watching the battle like a movie in the cinema with the "hero" facing the "villain". I think you can quess who they thought was who.

Calem was watching with a critic's eye, prepared to mark any flaws in our battle strategies. He was the son of two veteran trainers after all. Anyways, back to the battle.

Chester created two long, thin vines, and, as the name states, used them as wips. Just milliseconds before they hit, LightHero let out a surprisingly loud growl for his size that caused Chester to cover her ears and stop the attack. While Chester still had her gaurd down, LightHero shot a strong ember at the unsuspecting chespin, causing smoke to rise all around the surely fainted chespin.

When the smoke cleared, Chester was still standing without a single scratch. I almost lost my composure, almost.

Off to the side, Tierno and Trevor were whooping like there was no tomarrow because their "hero" had just beat the odds. A quick glance over to them promptely shut their mouths.

"That shouldn't be possible," Calem mused. He stared intently at Chester, and suddenly his eyes went out wide with recognition. "Wait a minute, those are Resist Ribbons. They've been banned from League Battles for years."

Resist Ribbons could greatly lessen the damage of special attacks. They were originally meant for Pokemon Rangers, but trainers started to secretly use them to win battles. Once the League found out about the trainers using them, they shut down the factory and banned them from ever being used in League Battles again.

"So that means you're cheating, Shauna. Have you no honor?" I stated inquisitively.

Shauna just smirked and commanded, "Chester, use vine wip to launch yourself at LightHero!"

I just barely managed to say, "Dodge it and use scratch!"

LightHero partially managed to dodge the incoming Chester but was still hit hard in the leg. Even with the hard leg hit, LightHero managed to use a hard scratch on the launched chespin, ripping out a few ribbons in the process. That gave me an idea.

"LightHero, you have to get behind Chester and rip the button holding all the ribbons off!"

"Don't let him do that, Chester! Stop him with growl!"

LightHero bounded towards Chester, but Chester let out a growl, stopping LightHero in his tracks.

"LightHero, counter with your own growl!"

LightHero also started his own growl, and neither pokemon let up their growl. Honestly the growls were more effective on the trainers.

After awhile LightHero's growl started to weaken, probably from already letting out a loud one earlier before.

"Ha, what kind of sad excuse for Pokemon is that? It can't even maintain a strong growl," Shauna mocked loudly over the sound of the growls.

LightHero winced at the harsh comment, and his growl started to weaken even more. I knew LightHero's confidence was waning, and to me, that was worse than losing my cherished absol necklace.

"Don't listen to her, LightHero! She just doesn't see what an amazing pokemon you are because she's soulless cheater! I believe in you LightHero!" I exclaimed.

"What?!" Shauna seemed so shocked by statement she almost fainted, almost.

LightHero on the other hand, seemed to have a major confidence boost. His growl became louder and louder until it became another sound all together.

"LightHero! You learned Howl!"

Chester's growl was nothing compared to the howl that LightHero let out. Chester's growl soon faded out, and she had to take a step back while covering her ears. While Chester's ears were still ringing, LightHero leaped behind her and ripped the button clean off her back. The Resist Ribbons all fell to the ground; leaving Chester vulnerable to special attacks.

"Hit her hard with ember, LightHero!"

LightHero obliged and hit Chester with an even harder ember than before. This time Chester fainted.

Shauna seemed to go back to her normal smiling self after Chester fainted, and she picked Chester up carefully.

"We'll get 'em next time. Right Chester?" Shauna asked as she tickled Chester's belly.

Chester also seemed back to normal, and she squirmed happily from the tickling.

"See ya guys later," Shauna stated in the rest of our directions. "We're going to go on a quest for Narnia! For Narnia!" Shauna raised first in the air, and Chester copied the movement although it was a little less enthusiastic than Shauna since she did just fight a tough battle.

Shauna skipped away singing some song that no one could understand with Chester cradled in her arms.

"I should head out. An adventure doesn't start itself," Calem stated as he walked away with Froakie hopping along at his side.

Trevor and Tierno, not wanting to be left alone with me, hastily stood up.

"Um, me and Trevor have to...pack. Yeah, we have to prepare for the journey," Tierno stated slowly. I was actually surprised that he was even was thinking about something other than dance.

Tierno and Trevor left, and I heard Trevor reprimand Tierno about his improper use of grammar.

I let out a large sigh. Thank goodness that they were all gone. I was just about to fall with exhaustion from talking to so many people. At least on my journey it would just be me and my pokemon.

I crouched down and started to pet LightHero. His light yellow fur was softer than snuggliest of blankets, and his bright blue eyes shined brighter than ever. That battle must have really boosted his confidence.

"Are you ready for an adventure?" I asked LightHero.

LightHero looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes and a wide smile spread across his small features.

"Wait are we waiting for, let's go," I declared and stood up.

"Feh-keh!" With that, the two of us walked through the whole of Aquacorde Town to Route 2.

We were on the bridge leading out to Route 2. The crystal clear river under the bridge that Aquacorde Town was famous for reflected the sky and the blooming shrubs that grew along the river. In the distance, I could see the grassy plain that was Route 2, and beyond that, the peaceful Salentune Forest.

I was about to take a step when a two ton rhyhorn barreled into me. LightHero just stood there; frozen with shock.

"You weren't going to leave without saying good-bye, were you?" My mom asked as she walked up to me. Honestly, I did want to say good-bye to Rhyhorn, but doing so also meant saying good-bye to my mom which could be awkward.

"Don't worry Rhyhorn, I'll come back to visit," I stated as he started to back off my limbs that somehow weren't crushed.

Even as I said those words they felt really hollow. I was probably never coming back. Anything that I actually treasured or needed, which wasn't a lot, was already in my bag, and I could always buy some new clothes at the stores in the other towns or cities I visited.

"Be careful alright, and keep your pokemon safe," my mom stated in that motherly tone that I rarely ever heard from her. She then proceeded to take me into a big, caring hug, and for a moment, I almost felt as if she actually cared, almost.

My mom ruined the moment by saying, "I wouldn't my little rhyhorn racer to get hurt." She gave me a playful punch and walked away with Rhyhorn.

LightHero had finally recovered from shock and gave me that what-the-heck-just-happened look.

I just shook my head and said, "I know, and that's probably just the start of the weird things that are going happen."

Little did I know that what I had just said was completely true.


	3. Chapter 3: The Mysterious Man

**Still don't own Pokemon. Never have, probably never will.**

-Calem-

"Come on Froakie, finish him off with bubble!"

Froakie complied perfectly and launched a stream of bubbles at the weakened wild fletchling. The wild fletchling fainted instantly.

"Good job, Froakie," I praised the determined froakie.

I placed an Oran berry in front of the fletchling, so when he woke up, he could regain some health.

I started to walk away and Froakie hoped onto my shoulder. You would not believe how high the little froakie could jump. I once had to climb to the top of a tree to help untangle him after a particularly high jump.

I gave Froakie a small pat on the head and returned him to his pokeball. He had been battling a lot of wild pokemon, and I thought he could use a rest.

I looked at the cloud covered sky and decided it was useless trying to tell what time it was. I really should have brought a watch.

I had been on the road for a day, and in the beginning, the weather had been beautiful with not a cloud in the sky. Then it slowly began to worsen until it was how it was now; the wind whipping across the tall grass, and dark clouds threatening to shake the sky with their thunder and lightning.

"Crash!" Lightning shot across the sky without a single drop of rain.

I decided that I should probably look for shelter before it started to downpour, and after awhile, I managed to find one. It was a simple rock outcropping that held some measure of protection against the rain and driving wind.

I put together a fire, and just as I lit it, a hard rain started up. Thank goodness that I had found this shelter or I would have been freezing in the rain. I set up my sleeping bag and decided to wait out the storm.

I was about to lay down when my holo-caster went off. I opened it up to see Malva of the Elite Four with a special news bulletin.

"Good afternoon, viewers. Today I have an important bit of news for you all. There have been reports of many pokemogrand their trainers disappearing in Santalune Forest. I'm warning all trainers in the area to exersise extreme caution. Now for today's new manicure tip-"

I instantly shut off the Holo-Caster; not wanting to listen to Malva drone on about beauty tips. I had actually met Malva in person once when she decided to visit my parents one time. It was an experience I wished I could forget. Malva thought that it was cute to dress a eight year old boy in pink dresses and bows, and my parents did nothing to stop the "wonderful" Elite Four member.

I shuddered slightly at the memory and turned my attention back to the rain. The storm was still in its full force, and I thought I had just seen something glowing out in the distance. I shook my head and decided that it was just a figment of my imagination.

I layed down in my sleeping bag and wondered, _I wonder if the others heard the news bulletin. I'd better be careful when I reach Santalune Forest._

Slowly, my eyelids drooped down and I fell asleep.

-Forrest-

"Good job, LightHero. Now give the kind bunnelby an Oran berry," I commanded softly.

LightHero took the Oran berry I had been holding and placed it in front of the bunnelby that he had just battled. LightHero gave the bunnelby little nudge as thanks for the battle and came back to my side.

LightHero was surprisingly strong for a brand new starter. It had only been one day on the road so far, and already, we had defeated every wild pokemon we had faced. I had entertained the idea of catching one of the beaten pokemon, but it just didn't feel right to catch a pokemon that had probably just been minding their own business.

As I was thinking, I felt a raindrop drop onto my nose. I looked at the dark sky and saw lightning crackle in the distance. Bad weather just _had _to follow me where ever I went.

LightHero shuffled uneasily, and I remembered that a fire type like him wouldn't like to be rained on. I scanned the horizon but didn't see a single bit of shelter. There was reasonable outcropping on the other side of the raging river, but if I tried to cross I would probably be swept downstream.

I thought about putting LightHero back in his pokeball but instantly canned the idea. I had found that LightHero liked going into a pokeball even less than I liked putting him in one.

I looked at my surroundings again and noticed a man, that I could have sworn wasn't there before, staring at the horizon from the side of the river. I had no idea how the man had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but it peaked my couriosity more than a little bit.

I walked over to the man with LightHero at my side just as it started to downpour. Surprisingly, the rain seemed to swirl around the man and me and kept us relatively dry. My eyes shot out in wonder at this but the man didn't seem surprised at all.

Now that I was closer to the man I could completely make out his appearance. His long, light green hair was in a messy pony tail right under a black and white cap. I found his hair a little odd, but I wasn't one to talk. The man was wearing a simple white shirt with a black, long sleeved under shirt and long tan pants. He had bright green shoes and plenty of random doo-dads on his person. There were two mismatching bracelets- one on each hand-, some kind of cube on a necklace around his neck, and a luxury ball connected to his belt loop.

"Um, sir? What exactly is going on here?" I questioned curiously.

The man turned towards me; showing his green eyes that seemed ageless. Now that I had seen his face, he seemed like just an older teenager who was a little on the tall side instead of a man.

"Please, call me N," the older teen, who was apparently called N, stated in a faraway voice.

"What is this, N?" I questioned again while gesturing to the rain swirling around us.

N glanced at the swirling rain and replied in a faraway voice, "I have a friend."

I didn't ask about it any more beyond that. I knew how it felt to be questioned about touchy or secret subjects.

I was about to walk away and leave N alone when he asked, "Have you ever heard of the Distortion World?" The question caught me off gaurd, but I didn't let it show. The Distortion world sounded familar, but I couldn't remember anything about it for the life of me.

"I'm afraid I don't really know anything about the Distortion World," I replied sheepishly. N just nodded with a faint smile.

"Not many people know about the distortion world these days, but would you like to hear a story about it?" N questioned evenly.

I looked down at LightHero who had fallen asleep curled up in a little ball. I smiled and looked out at the pouring down rain. With this rain, I wasn't going anywhere, so I decided that I might as well listen. Besides, if N left, the protection from the rain might disappear.

"Sure, I could go for a good story," I replied evenly to N.

N nodded again and started his story, "The Distortion World is a truly distorted and posses no physics at all. One moment you might be seemingly standing in perfectly good gravity; then the next, your floating about in null gravity. The Distortion World is watched over by Girintina, the lord of distortion. The Distortion World is a very dangerous place for humans-"

"Why is the Distortion world so dangerous?" I knew it was impolite to interupt someone while they were talking, but I was naturally curious.

N didn't seem to mind the interruption and replied, "The Distortion World has an energy running throughout it that damages a human's soul. If a human stays too long in the Distortion World, then their soul could be killed." I mentally shivered at the explanation but still continued to listen when N continued the story, "Now, continuing on, no human had ever survived the Distortion World until a girl, who's name is unknown, went into the Distortion World and survived. They say that her soul was so strong that it pushed the dangerous energy away-"

"RIIINNNG!" I smiled sheepishly as my Holo-Caster went off. N just stared evenly as I pick my Holo-Caster out of my bag. The screen blinked with a message for a news bulletin, but when I saw that reporter was Malva, I instantly deleted the bulletin. The "important" announcement was probably a new make-up tip.

"Sorry about that," I apologized.

N just nodded and continued as if nothing had happened, "The girl traveled through the confusing paths of the Distortion World and finally came upon the Distortion World's heart where Girintina awaited. The girl ended up befriending Girintina and that's all that is known about the girl and Distortion world." The story seemed familar for some reason, but I still couldn't tell why.

"Where did you hear that story?" I asked, curious as to where he had heard the story that felt so familar to me.

N looked out across the river and replied in that faraway voice, "I've traveled to many places and heard a great many stories." N turned back to face me, and his eyes glistened with an untold sadness. I thought he was going to cry for a moment, but surprisingly he didn't.

"I'm afriad I must leave you now. I'll see you next time we meet," N stated evenly. With that, he walked out into the storm and seemingly disappeared. I blinked in confusion and shook my head. Just another odd occurrence on this strange adventure.

Soon after N left, the storm stopped, and the sky cleared. It was only when I looked up to the cleared sky did I notice how late it was. Little stars twinkled in the night sky and the waxing moon gleamed its bright, white glow.

I looked down at the peaceful little fennekin and decided that this I might as well sleep too. I pulled out a traveling blanket and pillow, and set them on the cool ground. I layed down on my make-shift bed and thought,_ N sure is mysterious. I wonder what his story is._

Slowly, my eyelids drooped down, and I fell asleep.

-N-

I looked at the small plain that made up most of Route 2. The river that cut through it reflected the night sky in its clear waters. The light breeze that reached the top of cliff ruffled my light green hair.

A large thump sounded behind me as Zekrom landed down. Zekrom's large black body radiated an electrical aura, giving me the feel of static surrounding me when it really wasn't. It was quite an exhilarating feeling.

"You know who she is, don't you," Zekrom questioned in his deep, resounding voice.

"Yes, and I wish her luck," I replied, doing my best to keep the emotion out of my voice.

"You miss Shadow," Zekrom stated knowingly.

"Don't say that you don't miss her either," I replied. Zekrom's aura lessened a bit as I said that and his red eyes seemed to lower in intensity.

"It is true that I miss Shadow's voice, and that is the reason I'm here with you," Zekrom replied in his even voice. It was hard to find emotion in his deep voice, and the only one who had been able to find it was Shadow.

Shadow. I opened my puzzle cube locket that hung aroung my neck. Inside was a picture of Shadow, the champion of the Unova Pokemon League. While she had declined the title after beating Alder, it was still recorded that she had defeated the Unova Pokemon League.

The picture of Shadow showed her in front of the Pokemon League with Zekrom's luxury ball raised above her head in a victory pose. Her thick, chocolate brown hair was tied in a pony tail under her pink and white cap. Her sparkling, light blue eyes shimmered with unbound joy and small lips were curved in a joyous smile. She was wearing her usual outfit of a white tank top with a black vest over it and worn out jean shorts. Her short, black and pink boots actually didn't have mud or dirt on them, and here slight frame was filled with almost to much joy.

Shadow had been my first human friend, and she had disappeared four years ago. In the beginning I had been searching for her with my partner Reshiram, but about two years ago Reshiram had befriended a boy named Neil. I still searched without Reshiram, and at one point Neil actually came and helped with Reshiram. Later on we became sepparated, and I hadn't heard from him since. About one year ago I had chanced upon Zekrom, who was Shadow's partner, laying wounded in front of a deep forest temple. When Zekrom had recovered he had said that he had been separated from Shadow and was looking for her. We had decided to work together and had been searching ever since.

"I'm worried, Zekrom. Anyone befriended with Legendaries seems to be disapearing," I stated, voicing my thoughts.

"You are worried about this girl you have met," Zekrom assumed.

"You said it yourself, Zekrom. The legendaries in this region have just started to waken, and you had to of felt her soul," I replied.

"She is in danger then?" Zekrom questioned.

"I'm sure danger has already found her," I stated as I looked out to seemingly peaceful Santalune Forest.


	4. Chapter 4: The Distortion World

**Hey guys. I still don't own Pokemon and all that, but I've final reached the chapter where the plot truly starts to devolope. Enjoy :)**

-Forrest-

Trees covered the forest with plants of all kinds growing along the floor. The few breaks in the trees let in dappled sunlight, and whenever a breeze blew through the forest, the pleasant sound of shifting leaves sounded throughout the peaceful forest. Every so often one would hear te soft sound of a pokemon call, but other than that, the forest was relitively quiet. The quietness unsettled me a bit. I was expecting the beautiful clamor of the music of life, but it was almost completely quiet. Well, it was until-

"Hey, Forrest!" LightHero and I looked to each other and sweat-dropped.

Shauna came bounding from the entrance of Santalune Forest with the excitable Chester smiling one of those ridiculous giant smiles. At least Chester wasn't wearing a pound of ribbons anymore. She now only wore a pink bow on her head and a little necklace with a charm on it.

"Hi, Shauna," I greeted tiredly. This was going to be a long day with Shauna around.

"Hiya, Forrest! Hey, did you hear about the missing trainers? We should stick together to be safer," Shauna declared more than suggested. My heart stopped for a second when she said stick together. There was no way I was traveling with Shauna, but wait, missing trainers?

"What missing trainers?" I questioned.

"Didn't you hear Malva's news broadcast? You know Malva, the reporter who gives all the good beauty tips," Shauna stated with a smile that could rival Chester's in the ridiculous department.

Maybe I should have listened to Malva's broadcast, but I already deleted it. Oh well, it can't be that bad, right? Now back to the problem at hand. I had to think of a polite way to make Shauna leave us alone, and by looking at LightHero, I could tell he wanted nothing better than to get rid of the irritating Chespin who was now trying to... sing? Luckily something saved me from Shauna just in the nick of time.

There was a rustling in the bushes in front of us that caused Shauna to tense up in fear. Chester copied her trainer's fear and trembled a little.

"What if those are the kidnappers!" Shauna exclaimed fearfully. A twig snapped from the behind the bush, and Shauna ran away screaming with Chester following right behind.

Once Shauna had disappeared into the forest, a graceful liepard stalked out from behind the bush. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding, and looked the liepard over. Liepards weren't supposed to live in this area, and this liepard's fur was too well groomed to be wild. I figured the liepard belonged to someone, but as I searched the trees' perimeter, there wasn't a soul in sight. Maybe she was lost.

"Where's your trainer, Liepard?" I questioned the elegant liepard.

The liepard looked behind her, and then turned her cunning eyes to face me. Those emerald green eyes seemed to have a deep inner fire within them that can only come from having many tough battles. I had only seen one other pokemon with inner fires like that before, and that was Alder's Bouffalant. My mom had just won the Unova Rhyhorn Racing Championships (U.R.R.C.), and Alder was the guest of honor who awarded my mother with the trophy. This liepard had to belong to some great trainer to have an inner fire like that, but what would she be doing here alone?

The liepard turned her eyes away from my face and bounded away into the forest. As she bounded away, she brushed her fur against my leg; giving me tingling feeling where fur touched skin. Soon the liepard disappeared into the foliage.

"That was odd, it almost seemed as if she was running away from something," I mused while looking in the direction that the liepard had come from. My curiousity got the better of me.

"Hey, LightHero, do you want to do some exploring?" I asked LightHero who was already sniffing the bush that the liepard had appeared from. I decided just to take LightHero's curiosity as a yes, and started off in the direction that the liepard had come from.

LightHero happily followed behind me and started weaving through the tangle of bushes in the way. Due to his small size, he had trouble going through the thick underbrush, but he was still able to follow me without a problem.

After a while of trekking through the forest, I looked at our surroundings and realized that I had no idea where we were.

"Um, LightHero? I think we might be lost," I stated as I tried to find some way to tell where we were. I even tried my Holo-Caster, but there wasn't any reception.

LightHero shrugged his small features to show that he was indifferent to the situation. He probably didn't understand the dangers of being lost in the woods.

I scanned the area again, and suddenly I heard voices coming from the distance. I followed the sound with LightHero scampering right next me.

I soon came upon a clearing full of people wearing some odd uniforms. I remembered how many different criminal teams looked like this and decided to hide behind the bush before anyone saw me. My mom had told me the story of Team Plasma at least a hundred times, and I wanted to be extra cautious.

The uniforms the group was wearing were basically all the same; a silver and gold colored overcoat with a hood that made it impossible to see their faces. There was one exception who wore a blue and gold colored uniform and actually had his hood down. He had bleach blonde hair and would be considered handsome if it weren't for his cold gray eyes. His eyes were the kind that pierce your soul and make you feel empty inside. I figured that he was the admin of the group since most of the criminal groups I had heard of usually showed the ranks quite obviously.

The whole group seemed to be waiting for something. Well, except for two of the members on the edge of the clearing who were next to some sort of machine. They seemed to be in a heated argument over something about the machine. I could tell one was a girl and the other a boy by the sound of their voices, but I couldn't make out what they were saying exactly.

The machine was basically a large cube shaped mechanism with all sorts of wires streaming out of it and a dangerous looking ray gun point coming out from the left side. It stood on four strong legs that had small spikes digging into the ground to keep the machine steady.

I turned my attention away from the machine and noticed two men talking near by.

"What are we waiting for anyway? Why not just shoot the machine now?" one of the men questioned.

"I think that they're waiting for something," the other man replied.

"Waiting for what?"

"I don't know, but it must be important if it's delaying our travel to the Distortion World." I instantly stopped listening after he said that.

Isn't the Ditortion World what N was talking about? Why would they want to travel there? Wouldn't they have their souls killed? About a million more thoughts along those lines circled about my head.

LightHero tugged on my shorts; snapping me out of my thoughts. He silently motioned towards the clearing where a lot of commotion had started up.

Six men, wearing the silver and gold uniform that had been ripped by some sharp claws, came into the clearing while carrying something that was harshly struggling against the men's grip. The men seemed to be having trouble keeping a hold of whatever they were carrying.

Upon closer inspection of what they were carrying, I noticed that it was the liepard from earlier. Now all those tares in the men's uniforms made sense, but why would they want a liepard. It may be a strong looking one, but liepards weren't all that hard to find.

The admin walked up to the struggling liepard, and instantly, the liepard stopped struggling. Her cool eyes stared at the admin with a deep hatred. The admin reached his hand out to the liepard, but she bit down hard on the admin's unsuspecting hand.

The admin quickly pulled his hand away and spat, "Didn't you put any restraints on that thing?"

One of the grunts holding the liepard shuffled his feet nervously and replied, "We did at first, sir, but she ended up breaking them all. She was weakened just enough for us to hold on to her." The admin nodded his head in understanding, but I could tell that he was furious that the liepard had bit him.

The admin looked the liepard over, and suddenly his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Where is the soul part!" the admin angrily demanded.

The grunt shrunk in fear and stuttered, "S-soul part, sir?" The admin's face contorted with anger, and the girl sounding grunt that had been arguing earlier walked over to the liepard.

"Perhaps the liepard hid it somewhere, sir," the girl grunt commented.

The admin's anger abated a bit, and he quickly ordered, "Alright, put this liepard with the rest."

The liepard instantly started to struggle again after that order, but I could tell that she was weakening due to all energy exerted from before. The liepards struggles pierced my heart, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to just stand by and watch. By taking a quick look to LightHero, I could tell that he wanted to help out too.

"Leave that liepard alone!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Fen-kah!" LightHero growled along with me.

The clearing had gone completely silent, and the liepard used the interruption to twist out of the grunts' grasps. The liepard flashed me a look of gratitude just before she raced off into the forest. A small smile of satisfaction played across my lips, but it quickly was replaced by a look of fear as two grunts grabbed me from behind. I tried to struggle out of their grip, but they were much stronger than they looked. LightHero was about to help me when another grunt picked him up and clamped his mouth shut, so he wouldn't be able to use any attacks.

"Well well, what do we have here," the admin stated smugly. "Looks like a trainer got lost." The admin let out a bout of maniacal laughter, and his grunts followed in suit, not wanting to be punished.

The admin let out a look of amusement at my futile struggling, and I instantly stopped. I looked at the admin cooly which made his smug smile became even larger.

"You there," the admin pointed to a grunt who became quite flustered. "Search the girl for other pokemon."

The grunt nodded, and searched all my pockets. He inspected my bag in a total disregard for all the work I put into organizing it. Once he found that I actually didn't have any pokemon other than LightHero, he shakily pulled his hands away.

"Um, sir? I don't think she has any other pokemon," the grunt stated, failing to hide the fear in his voice.

The admin's smug smile instantly disappeared, and his face contorted with anger. He stomped his way up to me and gripped my chin similar to how someone would inspect a show ponyta. He stared into my eyes, and I could have sworn I felt my soul twist in fear. I somehow managed to counter his stare with one of my own.

The admin roughly let go of my chin and spat, "No caught pokemon, eh? Well that makes you quite the failure trainer wise."

The admin's wording both confused and insulted me. The only reason I didn't catch any pokemon yet was because I felt uncomfortable forcing such innocent pokemon into pokeballs, but I wasn't about to tell this cruel man that.

The grunts all seemed to quiver in fear at the admin's words for some reason. As I searched the eyes of the gathered grunts, I only saw two who seemed to be enjoying the scene almost more than the admin.

"Do you know what we do with failures here in Team Ultimia?" the admin questioned; his voice dripping with venom. When the admin saw that my only answer was a stare of defiance, he proceeded to say, "We throw them out like trash." A shiver went down my spine as he slowly spat the words.

The grunts still didn't let up there quivering, and I tried to escape while the grunts were just standing there like whimpering babies. Sadly, these whimpering babies could still keep an iron grip in fear.

The admin's smug smile returned, and he commanded, "Razel, start up the D.E.D."

One of the grunts, who was apparently named Razel, went over to the machine from before, and pressed a series of buttons. The machine started up with a soft whirr, and started to heat up. The ray gun point started to light up, and a ball of energy formed on the tip.

I almost thought that they were going to fire it at me, but luckily it shot at a tree. The beam from the machine suddenly disappeared, and in it's place was some kind of portal. The portal was an oval spiral with a multitude of colors swirling about it.

"Throw her in," the admin commanded with wicked glee.

I started struggling again as the two grunts that were holding me walked slowly toward the portal. I heard the admin say something about suiting up before I was thrown into the portal.

On the other side of the portal I had a moment to view something that looked like dark forest before I felt a harsh pulling from my chest. It was almost as if my soul was being ripped out.

Realization soon dawned on me. With what N had told me and the tid bit of information from the grunts, I realized that this must be the Distortion World. The pulling in my chest soon increased, and I knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. The pain was so intense I could barely see.

I heard a soft thump as LightHero landed behind me. LightHero instantly ran up to me and nuzzled my hand. His fur was softer than any pillow, and for a moment, the pain seemed to abate a little.

The pain came back as I heard a louder thump sound behind me. With the pain even greater than before, I collasped on the ground.

The world blurred around me, and I was just barely able to hear the faint voice of the admin say, "She's dying little fennekin. Speak your last little sounds."

I didn't have time to ponder how the admin was somehow able to survive in the Distortion World. My heart was pounding in my ears, and my breathing grew ragged. I grew to the conclusion that I was about to die. A small tear trickled down from my eye. I would never be able to spend any more time with LightHero. I could care less about my mother; she wouldn't care. But, sweet little LightHero, who at first jumped at the slightest sound, had become a great friend over the few days that had made up my Pokemon journey.

_This is how it ends, _I thought. Soon the pain became to much, and I was given the gift of unconsciousness.

**Duhn, duhn, dah. Cliff-Hanger! I'll see you next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Absol

**Don't own Pokemon and all that good stuff. You get the idea by now.**

-Distortion World-

A girl lay in a in a large crystal structure. Her small frame forever preserved in the crystal. She seemed to be in her mid-teens and a peaceful expression lay on her face. Her small button nose and lush lips gave her the appearance of a doll. Her beautiful, black eye lashes stood out against her pale skin. She wore an old fashioned red dress with four yellow buttons on the bottom, and a thick snow white scarf. She had large pink boots that went all the way up to her knees and worn white socks that rised even higher.

Giratina looked at the girl sorrowfully. He remembered her bright blue eyes sparkling when they had battled together. Giratina closed his menacing red eyes, and twitched his smokey black appendages that had lethal reds spikes at the ends. He missed the adventures he had shared with the girl known as Noel. She was the only human with the ability to survive in the Distirtion World without the aid of the Dark Lunar Cloth; unlike those Team Ultimia zealots who had somehow wrapped their wicked hands around the Dark Lunar Cloth. Now they were using it to steal the life blood of the Distortion World, Distortion Energy.

Giratina shook those thoughts out of his head. Right now it was time to relax with his most trustest trainer. He barely held back the tears as he viewed the girl he had first given his friendship. He remembered the day she had died like it was yesterday. He didn't realize how such a perfect day would turn out to be the day he rued till the end of time and space.

_It was warm summer day on shore of Lake Verity, and a small breeze blew across the still lake. The wind blew through the small trees outlining the perimeter of the area. Giratina had been staring into the clear waters of the lake while Noel layed against his back; reading some fantasy novel. _

_ All of Noel's pokemon had been training hard earlier that day, so she had decided to let them rest in their pokeballs. All of her pokemon had tiredly agreed except for Giratina, who she had affectionately given the nickname Reaper. Reaper would rather spend time with Noel than be in a pokeball, so he had politely declined the offer for rest. _

_ Reaper had been lazily twirling his thick tail in the lake, causing ripples, when he had heard a twig snap from the edge of the tree line. He languidly searched the area were the sound had come from and saw a flash of silver cloth dissaapear into he trees. Reaper instantly became alert, and Noel had noticed his tension._

_ Noel put her book in her bag and questioned, "What is it Reaper?"_

_ Reaper slinked over to the trees surprisingly quietly for having six large legs hitting the ground. Suddenly, Reaper heard a scream from behind him. He turned around and saw a man, wearing a blue and gold overcoat, with a knife to Noel's neck. Reaper soon found himself surrounded by grunts wearing the same overcoat except they were silver and gold._

_ The man holding Noel spoke with a cold voice and demanded, "Giratina, come quietly and we'll let the girl go." _

_ Reaper was about to bow his head down in defeat, but Noel wasn't about to let that happen. She stomped down hard on the man's foot, and he clutched his foot in pain. Noel took the opening and ran over to Reaper's side. _

_ The fuming man, who seemed to be the leader of the group, commanded, "Shoot the Double S anyway." _

_ Two grunts brought out a terrifying weapon that had two large laser points on the front. One of the grunts pushed a button and the weapon started up. A large beam shot towards Reaper, and he was expecting to be hit, hard. Noel had other plans though, and she used her own body as a human shield for Reaper._

_ Reaper watched in shock as the beam collided with Noel. Noel's lifeless body dropped on the ground. Reaper was filled with rage as he viewed the grunts preparing another shot of the weapon, and he let out roar that could rival Dialga's Roar of Time. _

_ The trees around the lake shook in fear as Reaper's roar sounded throughout the entire area of the lake and beyond. When the fearsome roar died down, the grunts and leader where to shocked by the power that had just been released by Reaper to do anything. _

_Reaper scooped up Noel's limp body, and summoned a portal to the Distortion World. He flew through the portal with tears streaming from his eyes, and the portal closed behind him._

"Reaper!"

Giratina was instantly snapped out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Spark, Noel's Luxray, walking over to him. Spark had been the only one of Noel's Pokemon, other than Giratina himself, to stay by their trainer's side. The others had sought revenge on the people who had killed Noel and were who knows where.

"You know I don't go by that name anymore, Spark," Giratina stated in his rarely used voice that just barely hinted at his sorrow.

"I know, but... when I say it, it reminds me of the times with her," Spark replied; failing to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Giratina let the emotion in Spark's voice slide over him and stated, "Did you need something?"

Spark instantly shook his head and reported with an even voice, "There are more intuders again. They're in Gast Forest."

Giratina nodded; there always seemed to be intruders sneaking into the Distortion World. If only Team Ultimia hadn't gotten their hands on the Lunar Cloth. Then he wouldn't have to deal with anything, and he could just relax near his beloved trainer, thinking of better days.

Luxray sat down in front of Noel in the crystal, and stated, "I'll watch her while you're away."

Giratina gave no sign that he had heard Spark and flew off. Spark could never understand how Giratina seemed to slip through the distorted laws of gravity in the Distortion World, but it was Giratina's realm after all.

Giratina sped through the Distortion World and arrived at Gast Forest in less than thirty seconds. It was helpful to be able to twist the Distortion World around him.

Giratina hadn't been to this area for a long time, and he remembered why. Twisted, gnarled trees grew in every direction, and some even grew upside-down. The leaves fell every which way; giving the feeling of wind when there was none. The terrain twisted all over; sometimes even floating in certain areas. This forest gave Giratina too many memories of Noel. He shivered from the memories and continued on.

Giratina soon found the intruders and they were... Team Ultimia, no surprise there. This had to be at least the thirtieth time they come to cause trouble.

There was about a dozen grunts collecting the Distortion Energy flowing through the forest with some kind of machines. The admin was leaning on a rock that floated just an inch off the ground. Of coarse _he_ was able to relax while his grunts toiled away, carrying heavy machines.

Giratina also noticed a young girl without the Team Ultimia uniform lying unconsciously on the ground. Giratina figured that she was a Team Ultimia failure. He had seen it many times. A member of Team Ultimia fails really badly, and then they're "released of their duty", which basically means they are left for dead. Honestly, Giratina could care less about the members of Team Ultimia. If they want to get rid of their members for him, it was fine by him.

"Back again, are we?" Giratina boomed; appearing before the grunts and their leader by taking off the illusion of invisibility, just another thing Giratina was able to do in the Distortion World. He could distort the area around him to make himself invisible.

The grunts shivered in fear as they gazed upon the fearsome Giratina that was at least thirty times bigger than them, but the admin looked at Giratina cooly.

"Run back to Santalune Forest with the Distortion Energy. I'll take care of this," the admin commanded, and the grunts were all too happy to comply. Once the last grunt had disappeared into the portal that sat about ten yards away, the admin stared at Giratina with a large smirk. "It's been awhile, hasn't it, Reaper."

Giratina kept his unrelenting stare, even though the admin's statement had left him deeply shaken. _How could he know Noel's nickname? _Giratina thought.

As if he knew exactly what Giratina was thinking, the admin stated, "You're probably wondering how I know that name. Well let me tell you. I was the one who fired the Double S, and I was actually promoted because of it." The admin's smile widened as Giratina's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I let that sink in for a bit. Ta ta for now." The admin paused a moment before he disappeared into the portal, and the portal closed with a small fizzling sound.

Giratina stared off in rage. The one who he owed Noel's death had been right under his nose, and he had done nothing.

"Mister Giratina, please save my friend." Giratina was snapped out of his anger fit by the small innocent voice.

Giratina looked at the owner of the voice and saw a small fennekin, that couldn't be more than five years old, standing next to the girl he had seen earlier. His beautiful blue eyes reminded him of Noel's, and Giratina couldn't help but let his anger fade away.

"Sir, you have to save her. She's my only friend, and she was just trying to help that liepard...and...and..." Tears started to form on the little fennekin's eyes, but Giratina gently brushed them away with the red spike on the tip of his smoky black appendages that seem as insubstantial as a ghost.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you," Giratina stated; honestly feeling bad for the fennekin. He remembered the loss of his trainer and was never the same since.

The fennekin put his head down in defeat and curled up next to his trainer. Giratina was about leave the sad scene when he saw a faint sheen coming from the girls neck. Giratina floated over closer to the girl and saw what had made the sheen. It was a necklace that had a single charm of an absol.

Giratina lightly touched the charm, but quickly pulled away. The charm had burned him on contact, and Giratina instantly knew that it was more than just a charm. Giratina looked back to the memory of when something like this had happened with Noel.

_It was two in the morning, and the stars twinkled at Reaper and Noel from above. The others were asleep in the cave that they had found while walking about on the mountain. Noel sat on the edge of a cliff; dangling her feet in the air. Reaper stared out at the world below them. _

_"Reaper, can I trust you with something?" Noel questioned. _

_"You can trust me with anything," Reaper replied and looked at Noel with his deep red eyes. _

_"Well," Noel started. "I was thinking. I'm not going to live forever like you, Reaper, so I wanted to give you something to remember me by." Noel searched through her pocket and pulled out a silver bell on a red ribbon. _

_Reaper inspected the bell and questioned, "What is it?"_

_"It's a Soul Piece," Noel stated with a smile. "My grandmother gave it to me before she died. She said that it holds the other half of a person's soul, and I believe her. I want to give you half of my soul, so that when I am no more, you have something to remember me by."_

_"So there's half of your soul in that bell?" Reaper questioned unbelievingly. _

_Noel looked about and whispered deadly serious, "I've put the darker part of my soul in here. I need you to protect it just in case it somehow breaks out." _

_Noel quickly smiled again after that and stated, "I also heard that they were used long ago to surprise the ancient people's children. They say that they would hide some special ability inside the Soul Piece and give it to the child when they matured." _

_Noel held out the bell, and Reaper cautiously picked it up with his right wing. He then opened a pocket in the Distortion World and put it in for safe-keeping. Reaper could open pockets, small portals, to a secret place in the Distortion World if he needed to hide something._

_Noel laughed at Reaper's caution and reassured, "Don't worry, it will only hurt you if I didn't hand it to you myself. Come on, let's get some sleep."_

Giratina's eyes lingered on the Soul Piece that hung around the girl's neck. That Soul Piece was different from Noel's, much more different.

Giratina left the girl and her fennekin knowing that the girl would be just fine.

-Forrest-

It was silent, deadly silent._ Is this death? _I thought.

"Wake up, please. I miss you already." If this was death, it sounded a lot like a sobbing five year old.

I felt soft fur against my skin as I opened my eyes. I saw the dark forest from before, but something felt off. I looked around and everything seemed taller somehow. I looked at my hands, and what I saw shocked me.

Where my hands should have been, were two white paws with dangerous looking dark blue claws. I blinked my eyes in confusion; was this a dream? I must be in a comma from entering the Distortion World. My soul was probably dying right now, and my subconscious must have given me an alternate reality to keep my mind from the intense pain being assaulted on my soul.

Well, comma or not, I was definitely not the same physically anymore. I looked myself over and saw that pure white fur covered the majority of my four-legged body, except for my dark blue face, tail, claws, and a horn-like appendage sticking out the right side of my head. I had somehow been transformed into an absol, my favorite pokemon.

One odd thing seemed follow another, and the five year old voice came back, "You look different, trainer." I looked around for the source of the voice, and saw LightHero standing at my side.

"Don't worry though, even if you do look different, I'll still be your partner," LightHero stated happily. With the realization that I had turned into an absol, a talking pokemon didn't surprise me that much; I was a pokemon now after all. I was slightly surprised to see that LightHero was only a five year old, but that realization soon glazed over.

I shakily stood up on four legs and questioned, "Did you see how I changed into this by any chance, Light Hero?"

"Well, there was a bright light and suddenly you looked like you do know. It was right after Gira-" LightHero instantly stopped talking once he had realized that I actually understood what I was saying. "Wait a minute! You can understand me?"

I nodded my head and stated, "I was just turned into a pokemon you know."

LightHero's little lips broke into a wide grin, and he stated, "That is so cool. Now we can be an even better team and conquer the League. That'll show them." I was curious as to who "them" were but decided to ask later.

"We'll have to get out of here first," I reminded LightHero, and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course, I think Giratina might be able to help us," LightHero proclaimed.

"Giratina?" I questioned. How would LightHero even know who he was? He was asleep when N was talking.

"Yeah, I think he went that way," LightHero stated and pointed his tiny paws in the direction of some gnarled trees.

I decided that I might as well play along with this craziness; who knows, it might actually be real by some strange chance.

"Alright then, let's get going," I stated and started walking in the direction that LightHero had pointed.

Walking on all fours was surprisingly easy. Maybe it was because I had always had a different gait compared to other people. I heard LightHero's patter of feet as he caught up to me.

We walked straight through the demeaning forest, that gave you the feeling that you were being watched, in an awkward silence for what seemed like ages until LightHero questioned, "Do you think you'll ever be able to understand me if you turn back into a human?"

I turned my head to face LightHero and replied, "Honestly, I don't know, but I wouldn't be asking that yet. We don't even know if I _can _turn back into a human." LightHero noticed my dejected tone and tried to cheer me up.

"Hey, being a pokemon isn't that bad, besides, I'm sure we'll find a way to turn you back," LightHero declared happily. He probably didn't even understand what I was feeling, but it was cute to see him try to cheer me up.

We walked in silence for another moment before LightHero decided to start a new subject.

"So, do you have a dream?" LightHero questioned in his small, innocent voice.

I thought about what LightHero had said. What was my dream? At first it was just to run through a forest with no restrictions, but now that dream seemed too small. Especially since I was in a forest, of sorts, right now, and could probably run right now if I wanted to.

"I don't know what my dream is," I stated honestly.

LightHero actually seemed to brighten up at this, and he declared excitedly, "Then let's share the same dream, to conquer the Pokemon League!"

"Why that dream?" I questioned. I don't think that LightHero understood that dreams were supposed to be personal life-long goals.

"Well, I figured that most pokemon trainers want to defeat the league and prove their strength. I thought it would be a fun dream."

I thought about the idea of challenging the Pokemon League. It could be a goal of sorts, but I didn't really feel that it was something I really wanted to accomplish. It sounded like the kind of thing my mom would force me to do. On the other hand, LightHero seemed want to challenge the League.

"What makes you want to challenge the Pokemon League in the first place?" I questioned with curiousity.

"Well, I always wanted to prove that I was strong," LightHero stated in a small voice. "You see, everyone always thought I was weak because I was the runt. I was always smaller than all the other fennekin at the lab, and the others always picked on me. I promised myself that I would show them that I wasn't weak; I would be the youngest and smallest fennekin to win the League. Now I finally have the chance to do that with my very first friend."

I stared at LightHero in shock. I had never expected LightHero to feel that way. I rethought my opinion on the Pokemon League. Maybe it could be fun to try to beat the League, and besides, it would be worth it if it made LightHero's eyes gleam more like they were now. His blue eyes glimmered with a determination so intense that it gave me a huge swell of pride. LightHero had come very far from the shy fennekin that I had met just a few days ago, or at least what felt like a few days. You could never be sure about time in the Distortion World.

"That's a great dream, LightHero," I praised softly.

LightHero gave me a big smile and replied, "Thanks, now let's find Giratina so we can make it a reality."

I didn't have the heart to tell LightHero that there was very little chance that we could find Giratina in the vast expanse of the Distortion world. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Suddenly, I felt an odd feeling in my dark blue horn. It felt like a combination of a vibrating bell and being underwater. I then remembered that absol were able to detect danger and stopped walking.

"Hello there," a mysterious voice stated from behind me. I instantly whipped around, and LightHero followed in suit.

The owner of the voice was a luxray that seemed to radiate an aura of his own. His coat seemed to shine compared to the dull forest of the Distortion World, and he had that same gleam that the liepard from before had. The kind of gleam that showed years of experience with tough battles.

"Who are you?" I questioned, doing my best to keep the fear out of my voice.

"The name's Spark," the luxray replied happily; his earlier aura of power replaced with a sense of euphoria. His eyes glimmered with playfulness, more like that of a hyper shinx than a powerful luxray.

LightHero seemed to not notice the change and asked in his innocent voice, "Do you know where Giratina is by any chance?"

Spark's muzzle broke into a large grin at the question, and he replied, "Of course I know where Giratina is, and I can lead you there to if you want. There is one condition though, you're gonna have to catch me first." Spark flashed us an even bigger grin and raced off into the gloomy forest.

LightHero arched his small eyebrows, and I just shrugged in reply. With that, we gave chase to the speedy luxray. LightHero had started to fall behind due to his tiny legs, so I picked him up by the scruff and trew him onto my back.

"Hold on tight," I cautioned LightHero. LightHero nodded mutely in reply as I craned my head to look at him.

Spark seemed to be just playing with us, so he didn't run at full speed. I doubt it would even be possible to keep up with him at full speed. Spark bounded through the forest with such grace, and I didn't understand how he could possibly run through the forest so easily. I kept having to swerve around trees, and dodge floating rocks that always seemed to block my path.

I finally figured out how Spark did it after watching him jump around while running. He was jumping on the floating rocks scattered throughout the forest and launching himself off them. I decided to give it a shot, so I nimbly leaped onto the nearest floating rock. When I pushed off the rock, I shot through the air at higher speeds than normal.

I then remembered that N had said something about gravity being distorted in the Distortion World. That must be why we could push off the rocks with tiniest leap and end up soaring. I used this new information to my advantage and slightly lessened the distance between Spark and me.

We kept running and weaving throughout the forest with Spark dominating the lead. I guess I couldn't compete with a pokemon that had probably already had much more experience in running in the lawless gravity. Still, running through the forest like this was quite fun, and bouncing from rock to tree to rock again never got old.

After a while, the forest started to thin out and I stopped in my tracks. I looked out into the distance and saw something that looked like a giant crystal mountain with purplish black clouds surrounding it like fog. I stared in wonder at the mountian, and LightHero did the same.

Spark noticed that I had stopped and came back to face me.

"What is it?" he questioned; his eyes still holding that hyper shinx gleam.

"What is that," I asked while pointing with my paw in the direction of the crystal mountian.

Spark's eyes instantly darkened when he glanced at the crystal mountian, and his voice was full of sorrow when he replied, "That is a place that we'd better not go."

Spark turned around and started off at simple pace. There was no more bounce in his step.

"Come on, Giratina is just over this way," Spark stated.

I decided not to inquire any further about the mountain and followed Spark as he started to pick up the pace. Soon we were in a flat out sprint, and LightHero was holding on to my fur for dear life.

Just when I thought I couldn't go on any longer, we came upon a clearing in the thinned forest. In the center of the clearing was a pokemon that I had only ever seen in stories. His head was adorned with a gold appendage that reminded me of a mask, and two, demonic red eyes. Smokey black appendages with lethal looking spikes moved languidly, and his serpentine body hovered above the ground. I was staring face to face with Giratina.

LightHero broke my moment of shock at seeing a real legendary by stating, "Hi, mister Giratina!"

Giratina's cold eyes rested on LightHero and me; sending shivers down my spine. Spark watched the scene impassively, and walked over to Giratina's side. He then curled up into a ball and promptly fell asleep.

Giratina barely seemed to notice Spark and commented, "I see that you have found me. Do you have some kind of request?"

Giratina's voice seemed so distant and sad, I couldn't help being curious. What could possibly make a great legendary so sad? I instantly shook those thoughts out of my head. The last thing I needed to do was anger a legendary that could smash me into a pulp in a matter of five seconds.

Instead, I questioned, "Excuse me, mister Giratina? Do you, by ay chance know a way I can turn back into a human?" I knew I was taking a long shot in asking a pokemon that probably didn't even know that I had been a human a few moments before, but I had to try, right?

Surprisingly, Giratina did answer, "There is a way for you turn back, but if I tell you how, you will have to listen to a fairly long story."

My hopes instantly sprang up. Maybe there was still hope for me to turn back into a human.

"I'll listen to anything," I stated while I sat down on the cool ground of the Distortion World.

Giratina also lowered himself to the ground, and he started the story, "That charm of yours is a soul peice."

I resisted the urg to asked what a soul peice was, and thankfully, Giratina started to explain, "A soul peice is a special object that has the ability to hold a soul. A soul peice can be any object although they are fairly rare. Honestly, I have only seen one other soul peice before this."

That sent my mind reeling. Why would something this rare be hanging around my neck? I searched my mind for where I had received my necklace, that was surprisingly still hanging around my neck even after all the jostling around from running. Sadly, I came up with a complete blank.

I shook my head and continued to listen to Giratina, "There is a legend that the ancients first created soul pieces to trap each other's souls to power some of their wicked machines, but others say that they were used to hold the parts of their soul that they didn't like. For some it was a deep jealousy, and for others, it was a bad habit. What ever the reason for which they were made, soul pieces suddenly disappeared one day, and very few are left."

"Um, what exactly does this have do with Forrest turning back into a human?" LightHero interupted innocently. I cringed as LightHero rudely interupted Giratina, but honestly, I was curious too. Plus, it wasn't like I hadn't done the same thing as him at least fifty times before.

Giratina didn't seem to mind LightHero's intrusion, and he replied, "I thought you might like to hear a nice story, and not many nice visitors come to the Distortion World. It's been a long time since I've had a conversation with someone new."

LightHero was silenced by Giratina's reply, so Giratina decided to continue, "Now, coming to the point, soul pieces are activated in many different ways, and I believe your soul piece is activated when your human soul is in peril. There is most likely some other way to activate the soul piece again to turn you back into a human, but my limited knowledge on soul pieces doesn't allow me to tell you what activates it. Sorry I couldn't be more of a help."

"Don't worry, you helped us a lot," LightHero stated happily, and I nodded.

Girarina didn't show any emotion at the statement, but he did reply, "Thank you, but there is one more thing I can do for you."

Giratina waved one of his smokey black appendages, and a portal appeared. I could see Santalune Forest on the other side of the portal, and I looked back to Giratina.

Giratina slowly nodded his head and stated, "Good luck with turning back to normal."

I stared Giratina in the eyes and for a moment, I almost thought I saw a tear rimming his eyes. I shook my head; legendaries don't cry. I jumped through the portal and landed in the forest with a thud. A smaller thud sounded behind me, and I knew LightHero had come through the portal right behind me.

I breathed in the fresh air of the forest, and instantly relaxed. The forest seemed even more beautiful after being in the dark Distortion World for who knows how long. At least I was home again. That was all that mattered right now.

Suddenly, the exhaustion from running in the Distortion World hit me, and I layed down. I fought to stay awake, but the soft grass was just too relaxing. Right before I fell asleep, LightHero curled up by my side, and let out a squeaky yawn.

"Sleep well."

"You too."


	6. Chapter 6: The Troubled Warrior

**It's time for another chapter, yay! :) enjoy. **

**I don't own Pokemon :(**

-Calem-

I saw the exit of Santalune Forest coming up and ran all the faster. I looked behind me to see that the mob of pikachu were quickly gaining on me.

_Great, _I thought, _I step on one pikachu's tail and the entire forest decides to chase me. _I had put Froakie in his pokeball since he was weak to electric types and tired after battling many other pokemon from the forest.

I broke through the exit of the forest and charged out onto route 3. I didn't have any time to view my surroundings as I looked back to exit and saw that the pikachu mob had come to an abrupt stop at the edge of the forest. They must be afraid to leave their territory.

I stopped at that realization and instantly collasped on ground, panting. Running away from an angry mob of pikachu really took the breath out of you. The Pikachu, quickly seeing that I wasn't going to move for a while, gave up, and dispersed back into the forest.

I sighed and stood up. I hadn't been able to catch any pokemon in the woods, so I still had Froakie as my only pokemon. Well, at least I can catch some pokemon on this route.

"Hiya Calem, didja catch any pokemons yet?" I instantly knew who was coming up behind me, and sweatdropped.

"That is some of the worse grammar I have ever heard," I heard the squeaky voice of Trevor state. I turned around and saw Shauna bounding towards me with Chester smiling happily on her shoulder. Trevor and Tierno came walking slowly behind her.

I sighed. Why can't I just go on a simple journey alone with my pokemon. I didn't mean that Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno were bad or anything. It's just that Trevor is too much of a perfectionist, and he tends to take forever to travel through an area. He just has to find every type of pokemon before he could move on. Tierno was too rushed and didn't have the patience for pokemon battles. He always partially battles a pokemon and then starts flashing some dance moves. Shauna, well, Shauna was Shauna.

"Hey, where's Forrest?" Shauna questioned.

"Hopefully she gave up and turned back home," Tierno stated. I knew that Tierno and Trevor didn't like Forrest, but that was a little mean.

"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say about someone," I stated indignantly.

Tierno just shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "I doubt she cares. That witch is as cold as ice."

I suddenly didn't want to be around them anymore. I finally saw why Forrest was always so nervous around people; she was always surrounded by bullies who don't care one bit about her. She was always called names and the only person who could possibly care for her was her mom who was probably busy most of the time.

"I can think of someone colder," I retorted and stormed off. I heard Trevor reprimanding Tierno, but I kept on walking.

"Bye, Calem!" I heard Shauna exclaim.

"Che-pah!"

-Forrest-

Being an absol was actually similar to just being normal me. I was able to walk fairly close to the same way I had before in utter silence. Pokemon also seemed to like avoiding me. The few pokemon that I saw instantly scrambled out of sight. Well, I was the pokemon of disaster, but it wasn't like I was going to hurt them or anything.

"Where are all the pokemon going?" LightHero questioned while looking around; searching for a sign of any pokemon. It was cute to see him run around; searching for Pokemon that weren't there.

"Most pokemon are afraid of absol because they're supposed to bring disasters with them. I'm afraid that you won't be able to have many battles until I turn back into a human," I stated.

"Well that's not very nice. Pokemon shouldn't judge each other on what kind they are," LightHero replied innocently. He was too young to know that many people, and apparently pokemon, judge each other due to appearance.

"I guess we've got some tough luck," I stated.

LightHero nodded in defeat, but then exclaimed, "Hey, why don't we have a battle!" I thought about it. I was a pokemon now, and there might be an instance when I have to protect myself. Besides, a battle with LightHero might be fun.

"Sure, let's do it, but how do I use attacks?" I questioned. I would have known if I had a pokedex, but Trevor didn't give me one. He made a lame excuse that he lost it, but I knew better. He probably hid it in his pocket, and didn't give it to me out of spite.

Thinking about a pokedex led me to think about my bag. Where was it? I still had my necklace, but my bag and clothes were nowhere to be found. My heart stopped when I thought about it being left in the Distortion World, but I quickly realized that I didn't have my bag when I had woken up. _Maybe Team Ultimia stole it?_ I thought. I decided to just leave it at that.

"Using attacks is more of a gut feeling. You just have to use your gut and attack. Try thinking of what the attack looks like if you have trouble," LightHero informed.

I nodded and stated, "Let's do this."

LightHero and I separated ourselves and faced each other off. I thought about what moves an absol would know, and decided to try one out. I started running towards LightHero and imagined myself using pursuit. I felt a different sensation in my feet and was surrounded by a faint dark purple glow. My speed was doubled, and LightHero just barely managed to roll out of the way.

LightHero attacked in reply with ember. I did my best to dodge, but the speeding ember still singed my flank. The burn wasn't too bad, so I started to use pursuit again to reach LightHero. Once I was close enough I used slash, and my claws came down onto LightHero's hide. LightHero replied with a scratch to my cheek. I flinched back from the scratch, and LightHero let out a howl that seemed to be becoming louder each second.

I backed up from the loud noise assaulting my ears and tried to think of a way around LightHero's ear piercing howl. Using a physical attack wouldn't work unless I wanted to go deaf. I thought about other attacks that absol could know and there was only one that would seem to work. I raised my paw and slashed it down with as much force that I could muster. I imagined myself using psycho cut and...nothing happened.

LightHero lessened his howl in confusion at my redundant move, and I decided I might as well use that to my advantage. I charged up to LightHero with pursuit and used bite. I bit down hard on LightHero's leg, but LightHero struck back with scratch. LightHero hit my cheek, and I stumbled back a bit.

LightHero followed up with another hard hit with ember, and I was on the verge of fainting. LightHero saw this and grabbed an Oran berry from a nearby bush. He placed it in front of me, and I happily ate it. Instantly, sweet flavors started to burst in my mouth, and I felt regenerated. I never realized how good Oran berries were to pokemon.

"That was harder than I thought it would be," I commented to LightHero as we started walking through the forest again.

"Don't worry, that was only your first battle. You'll get better as you practice," LightHero piped happily. I smiled at his enthusiasm. I wish that I could have been that happy as a kid, but living with my mom didn't let that happen. I was always being either forced to practice rhyhorn racing or parading around with my mom's "friends".

"Hey, what was that move you were trying to use back there?" LightHero's question snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, I was trying to use psycho cut, but it didn't work out," I replied.

LightHero giggled at my reply and stated, "You can't just simply use a physic move. You have to build it."

"What do you mean?" I questioned. Build a move? I had never heard anything about that before.

"Well, I remember one of the Delphoxes at the lab saying that non-physic pokemon that know physic moves have to build up physic energy inside them to use the move while physic types always have the energy since they're bodies are built to hold the energy," LightHero replied.

"How do I build up the energy?" I questioned.

"I think you have to meditate before the battle or something along those lines. I remember the delphox saying that the energy you build up always stays, but it can be strengthened or weakened," LightHero replied, and I knew he was just confusing himself with the explanation. Still, I think I understood what he was saying to an extent. He had meant that non-physics needed to build up a physic energy to use physic attacks by doing some type of meditation, while physic types already generated the energy needed.

"Perhaps I should try generating the energy," I thought aloud.

LightHero didn't seem to hear me as he bounded ahead of me. I looked in the direction that he had went, and saw him standing in front of the exit to Santalune Forest. I started to walk towards him, but suddenly I felt that odd sensation in my horn again. I looked behind me to see Shauna, Trevor, and Teirno loudly walking towards the exit. I quickly ran over to LightHero who gave a small yelp as I picked him up by the scruf, and I slid into the bushes as the trio walked by.

Thankfully the trio hadn't seen me. It would have been a little awkward if they had seen me as an absol. Shauna suddenly started running, and she quickly disappeared out the exit of the forest. Trevor and Teirno looked at each other, sighed, and followed after Shauna.

Curiosity quickly got the better of me, and I silently sneaked up to the exit. LightHero, who was now rubbing his neck between steps from my harsh hold, followed me to the exit. I peered throught the bush on the side of the exit, and saw Calem talking with the trio.

"I doubt she cares. That witch is as cold as ice," I heard Teirno state. It wasn't hard to guess who he was talking about considering that he hates me.

I saw Calem's face twitch slightly in anger. Wow, I never expected anyone to be angry over me. I was just the kid who tried to stay unnoticed in the corner.

"I can think of someone colder." With that, Calem stormed off down route 3.

Trevor punched Teirno in the shoulder- not very strongly considering his non-existent arm strength -and reprimanded, "Teirno, that simile was impossibly weak. You should have used something colder such as liquid nitrogen."

Ouch. Well, I guess I was used to harsh comments by now. It had all started at my first preschool. Luckily in preschool, three year-olds could care less about you having famous parents, but they did make fun of my hair. One time they even tried to cut it, but the teacher found out. The teacher was old enough to understand my status and quickly gave the kids trying to cut my hair a time out. I had moved from school to school with my mom's racing schedule, and things just became worse and worse. By now, I was used to harsh comments.

"Bye, Calem!"

"Che-pah!" That had snapped me out of my revery, and I saw Shauna and Chester waving good-bye to Calem who had just about disappeared in the distance by now.

Shauna turned back to Teirno and Trevor, and happily stated, "I'll be going now. See ya in the magical land." With that, Shauna skipped of into the distance with Chester following behind.

Teirno and Trevor just shrugged and went their own way down the path. I waited for them to disappear from view and then stepped out of the bushes into the warm sunlight with LightHero coming out behind me.

I looked out over the area of route 3 that I could see. Route 3 was basically an old path with a few sparse trees scattered throughout the area, and I could see the faint sparkling of a pond in the distance. Hills and rocks dotted the landscape next to the path.

"Well, I think if we follow this path we'll reach Santalune City," I stated uncertainly. If only I had my bag, then I would be able to use my map.

"Alright, let's go," LightHero declared and hopped onto my back. I started walking, and once again, there wasn't a pokemon in sight.

After a few minutes of walking, we came upon the pond that I had seen before from the exit. It was actually quite a large pond, and it sparkled in the sunlight. Although it wasn't as clear as the river on route 2, it still was fairly clear. I could see something shining on the other side of pond, but I had no idea how to swim in my absol body. I decided not to risk trying now. A small wind blew across the pond, causing ripples across the surface. The languid pond gave me an idea.

"Hey LightHero, do think we could try building some energy now?" I asked LightHero who was staring cautiously at the pond.

LightHero pulled his gaze away from the lake and replied, "Sure, why not?"

I sat down and closed my eyes. I let the noise around me fade, and slowly, I started feel an energy around me. It felt like a combination of the warmth of sunlight and cool energy of a soft breeze at the same time. I didn't think. I didn't hear. It was just the feeling of the soothing power entering my body.

"Psst, Forrest, wake up." I opened my eyes, and instantly the soothing energy disappeared. I looked over to LightHero who motioned for me to be quiet and pointed to area further down the path.

When I looked down the path I noticed two things. The first one was that the sun had moved drastically since I had reached the pond. At first it had been late morning, but now it had to be at least late mid-day. The second thing was that there was a commotion going on down the path. I couldn't make out exactly what was going on, and instantly my curiousity was peaked.

I silently picked up LightHero and put him on my back. I slowly snuck towards the commotion by hiding behind trees and bushes on the side of the path. It was difficult to keep hidden in daylight and having white fur added an extra challenge. Still, I managed to reach the commotion without being spotted.

The commotion turned out to be a gang of seven litleo ganging up on a helpless riolu. The leader of the litleo seem to be a litleo who was slightly larger than the rest of the gang, and he held some type of smooth stone with his paw by trapping it between his paw and the ground. The riolu was backing up slowly while the rest of the litleo in the gang closed in on him.

"What's a little squirt like you doing out here with a Lucarionite, hmm?" the leader snidely asked.

The riolu backed up some more and ended up hitting a tall boulder, well tall compared to the riolu. The litleo gang, seeing that the riolu was cornered, quickly surrounded him; making it impossible for the riolu to escape.

"So, let me rephrase the question, tell me where you found the stone or else," the leader demanded, baring his fangs that were surprisingly sharp for a litleo's.

The riolu's eyes were full of fear, but he managed to sputter, "I'll n-never t-tell." The riolu seemed to gain a little confidence with that statement, and he put out his hand. "Now give it back." I could see that his hand was shaking.

The leader snickered and his gang followed suit.

"Looks like we'll have to go with or else."

The leader was about to shot an ember at the defenseless riolu, but I left my hiding place behind a bush. I wasn't about to let this injustice go on. I hit the leader with a hard pursuit, and he barreled into another member of the gang who was female. I rolled the stone, which was apparently call a Lucarionite, to the riolu who gladly snatched it up.

"Leave this riolu alone," I stated, my vioce showing my anger at the way the riolu had been treated.

The leader and the female he had barreled into glared daggers at me while the other five gang members shrunk in fear in the presence of an absol. I guess being an absol does have some perks. The leader and female litleo stepped up while the rest of the litleo gang gave the two space.

"Just because you're an absol doesn't mean I can't take you down," the leader declared cockily. "Claw you take the sad excuse for a fennekin on her back while I beat this upstart into submission.

The female, Claw, nodded, and LightHero jumped off my back. Claw instantly went for a tackle on LightHero, but LightHero nimbly dodged it. I knew LightHero would be fine, so I focused on the leader.

The leader fired an ember at me, but I simply stepped aside to let it pass me by. I replied with pursuit, and he went flying. I used pursuit again to reach the leader and brought down my claws in a harsh slash attack. The leader wasn't done yet though, and he let out noble roar, an attack similar to howl or growl that gives the body higher attack and defense strength. I backed away from the harsh noise, but it was by no means stronger than LightHero's howl.

I shook my head and charged the leader with pursuit. The leader had finished his noble roar, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge my pursuit. His defenses had been strengthened, so he didn't take as much damage as he would have taken. Still, the attack did a fair amount of damage. The leader stood back up and fired another ember, but I dodged it again.

The leader paused for a moment as if going over the situation, and a smirk played across his lips. He shot yet another ember, but this time the direction was exactly where the riolu was standing. The riolu had that deer in headlights look, and I knew he was too scared to dodge the attack. I used pursuit and took the attack, that just so happened to be a critical hit, to my chest.

The leader charged over to me, but I was saved by a piercing whistle that sounded throughout the area. I knew that the whistle was a breeder's poke-whistle. Poke-whistles are commonly used by breeders to call back certain pokemon after letting them explore or play. Poke-whistles each have a certain pitch so pokemon don't mistake one whistle for the other. I remember meeting one of my mom's breeder friends, and the breeder had at least fifty different poke-whistles.

The entire gang of litleo picked their heads up at the sound of the whistle, and the leader sighed.

"You got lucky today, but next time, the whistle won't be able save you," the leader spat, and ran off with his gang following him. Claw shot one more ember at LightHero that missed and followed after her gang.

I let out the breath that I had been holding, and collasped on the ground. That last hit had really hurt, and my pure white fur had been lightly singed. LightHero on the other hand, had barely a scratch and bounded over to the riolu who was now clutching the Lucarionite.

"That's a cool stone, where did you find it?" LightHero asked happily. LightHero just seemed to have boundless energy, and I sighed.

"LightHero, it's not nice to ask others questions that crazy gang leaders just asked them," I reprimanded, even though I was also curious as to what the stone was.

LightHero smiled innocently and apologized, "Sorry, so what's your name?"

"Um, it's Warrior," the shy riolu, who was named Warior, replied. Warrior fumbled some more with his Lucarionite. "I'm sorry about causing all this trouble. I should probably leave."

"Don't worry about causing trouble. I seem to take it with me everywhere I go anyway," I stated bitterly. It was true; trouble just seemed to love me.

"Oh, well I should get going now. I don't mean to burden you anymore," Warrior stated awkwardly and ran off.

"Well that was random," LightHero stated with a yawn. I looked to the sky and saw that the sun was about to set. I stretched and was about lay down to fall asleep when a light blinded me. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was human again. Thankfully I still had my clothes from before, and my bag was safely at my side with all its previous items untouched. I guess the soul piece also holds things that you were holding in your other form.

"Woah, I think you just blinded me," I heard LightHero's five year-old voice state. A smile appeared on my face. I could still understand LightHero in my human form.

LightHero rubbed his eyes with his delicate paws, and they slowly fluttered open. Once LightHero saw that I had changed back, his features exploded with joy, and he started run all over with excitement.

"Yay, now we can challenge the first gym!" LightHero exclaimed.

I laughed a little at LightHero's exuberance and stated, "We still have get there first."

LightHero completely brushed off the statement and started skipping down the path.

I looked to the setting sun and suggested, "How about we wait till morning for the gym?"

LightHero stopped skipping and sighed, "Fine, but we'll leave first thing in the morning, right?"

I nodded, and LightHero smiled. I then stood up and trudged over to a small tree that was standing on the side of the road. I plopped onto the ground, and my back layed against the tree. LightHero curled up on my lap, and his eyes drooped down. His breathing soon evened out; telling me that he was now asleep.

I lazily stared out at the sun setting behind the horizon, framed by the leaves of the tree I was leaning against. I hadn't realized how tired I had been until now, and I couldn't help falling asleep. One last wink from the sun was all I saw before my droopy eyes closed, and the world was enveloped in the sweet silence of sleep.

-Warrior-

_You'll never be a lucario at this point. I wish I had a trainer that could help me evolve, _I thought. I was walking in the area alongside the path with thoughts similar to these when I heard a noise. It sounded like breaking wood. My curiousity peaked when I heard a loud female human voice shouting commands, and a pokemon's grunts in reply.

I walked cautiously in the direction of the noises and came upon a clearing. In the clearing was a human girl completely decked out in red and white roller skating gear. She had a ridiculously long high ponytail streaming out from the top of her helmet, and strands of hair framed her face that didn't have a single blemish. Her blue eyes showed a fierce determination, and she was wearing a short dress that matched her roller-skates with black spandex shorts underneath. She pumped her arms and shouted out commands at a lucario that took my breath away. His eyes held a strength that told you that he wasn't someone to mess with, and he held an aura of power that sent shivers down my spine.

I was awed by the lucario's strength as he kicked and punched the thick tree in front of him; causing huge gashes in the trunk. The lucario barely seemed to break a sweat, and I knew that this trainer must be good. Maybe she could train me too.

I left the cover of the bush I had been hiding behind and clutched my Lucarionite even harder. The trainer instantly turned around and smiled. The lucario stopped his hitting and punching in stoic manner; eyeing me cooly.

I shakily held out my Lucarionite in my hand and stated, "I want to be strong too."

The lucario continued to stare evenly, but the trainer's smile widened when she saw the Lucarionite.

"Let me guess, you want to be stronger, so you can use that stone," the trainer assumed.

I nodded vigorously, and she stated, "Well, we'll be happy to train you, right Lucario?"

Lucario nodded and stated in a deep, rich voice, "Of course."

"Great!" the trainer stated. She then proceeded to do a flip with her roller-skates whooshing through the air. "We'll get started right away, and oh yeah, the name's Korrina."


	7. Chapter 7: The Santalune Gym

**Finally at the first gym :) Have a good time reading **

**I don't own pokemon. If I did, I would be rich.**

-Calem-

_Really, how many times is this going to happen?_ I questioned to myself.

Behind me was a mob of angry pokemon that I was running away from. The mob held everything from azuril to dunsparce. Froakie was on my shoulder firing bubble after bubble at the massing mob, and at one point Froakie even started using water pulse. I didn't have time to congratulate him, though.

I saw Santalune City coming into view and sprinted the last few yards into the city. The pokemon, once again, stopped at the edge of their territory, and turned around. Froakie gave them one last water pulse for extra measure.

"Well, I guess that's one more chance to catch pokemon wasted," I stated between pants. "At least you learned water pulse." I stroked Froakie's head in praise.

I looked back to route 3 and sighed. I was planning on catching at least one pokemon from the route so that I would be able to challenge the Santalune gym. The Santalune gym rules clearly state that each challenger is to use two pokemon, no more no less. I guess I would just have to figure it out went I was at the gym. There was no way I would be able to go back on route 3 without being mobbed.

I explored the fairly rustic city of Santalune. There were many kind people wandering about the streets; going about their chores in a relaxed manner. The city was made up of multiple flowered homes with forest green roofs and beautiful brick walls. There was floral courtyard sitting in the center of the city with a masterfully sculpted roselia fountain standing tall in the very center. Towering behind the courtyard was the Trainer's school with it's two magnificent columns where decorative silver pokeballs sat ontop.

I didn't see a reason to go into the school, so I passed it by. I walked on the brick path to the right of the Trainer's School and ended up in front of the Santalune gym. The gym was breath taking. Shining, golden walls held arching glass windows with a tall set of doors in between them.

In front of the doors was a skater girl decked out in yellow skating gear. She had her black hair tied into a set of pigtails, and she wore a loose white tank-top with yellow shorts that matched her gear. She seemed impatient, and her hand twitched about.

The skater girl noticed me and Froakie and yelled, "Yo, you with the froakie."

I turned in the skater girl's direction and raised a questioning eyebrow. She beckoned me closer, and I walked towards her.

Once I was close enough she burst out, "You want some wicked skates?"

I shrugged and replied, "Sure, why not."

A big smile appeared on the skater girl's face, and she exclaimed, "Great! You can have a pair of deluxe Snap-on Roller Blades if you can beat me!"

I thought about the offer. I had been roller blading once when my cousins had taken me, and it was fairly fun. I guess I could go for a pair of roller blades, and besides, I was always up for a battle. Froakie could always use the experience.

"Alright, let's have a battle," I declared. "You ready Froakie?" Froakie silently nodded and hopped down from my shoulder.

"Prepare to be defeated by Rinka, the best skater ever!" The skater girl, Rinka, exclaimed as she threw out her pokeball bounced on the ground and let out a zigzagoon.

Rinka caught the pokeball as it bounced back to her and commanded, "Ziggy, use headbutt!"

"Dodge it, Froakie, and use water pulse!"

Rinka's zigzagoon, Ziggy, charged towards Froakie with her head down. Froakie leaped out of the way of the attack and used water pulse. A blue sphere formed in front of Froakie, and once it was big enough, he fired the sphere in the direction of Ziggy. The sphere hit the ground and exploded into a wave that hit Ziggy hard.

"Ziggy, use sand attack to blind him, and then hit hard with tackle!"

Before I could say anything, Ziggy used sand attack, and a small sand cloud was shot at Froakie. The sand momentarily blinded Froakie by going into his eyes, and Ziggy used the moment of blindness to slam into Froakie with tackle. Froakie went flying back, but he was by no means out for the count.

I searched the area frantically for something I could use to gain an advantage. Finally my eyes alit upon something.

"Froakie, jump onto the gym's wall and shot off it while using bubble and tackle!"

"Dodge it, Ziggy!"

Froakie nodded his head and leaped onto the gym's wall. He was able to stick to the vertical surface with his adhesive toes. He shot of the wall at high speeds, and was trailed by a mob of bubbles growing by the second. Ziggy was frozen with fear at the monster-like mob of bubbles coming towards her. Froakie slammed into Ziggy, and leaped out of the way as the horde of bubbles whammed into her. The bubbles soon cleared to show that Ziggy had fainted.

Rinka sighed and returned Ziggy to her pokeball. Froakie hopped in excitement at the win and returned to my shoulder. He seemed energetic enough to stay outside the pokeball.

"Good job, Froakie," I praised.

"Woah, that was one epic battle," Rinka stated. "Here take two pairs of deluxe Snap-on Roller Blades." She threw me the two pairs of roller blades, and I barely caught them.

"Why are you giving me two?" I questioned.

Rinka did a little twirl on her skates and exclaimed, "So you can spread the glory of roller blades! Duh." With that, she skated away.

I stared in the direction Rinka had skated off in and shrugged. The world was filled with some crazy people.

I turned to the gym and sighed. I had to find a way to catch another pokemon if I wanted to battle the gym. Luckily, the problem fixed itself.

"What are you doing with two pairs of roller blades?"

I spun around to see Forrest with her fennekin- LightHero, I think -standing next to her. Man, she really was creepy when she snuck up on you like that; I hadn't even noticed her. That matter aside, an idea struck me, but Forrest would have to agree to it.

"Um, it's actually a pretty weird story," I replied. "Do you want the other pair?"

Forrest raised her eyebrow and replied, "Sure, I haven't been roller blading in a while though."

I then tossed a pair to Forrest who expertly caught them. Forrest inspected the blades and pulled out a small slip of paper.

"Snap on these rollor blades to any shoe and enjoy their easy use. Press the back button for the Snap-On Roller Blades to fold in on themselves, so you may enjoy walking pleasures. Huh, I wonder how that works out?" Forrest read aloud and mused.

Forrest then snapped the roller blades onto the shoes that I just relized she was wearing. Forrest only wore shoes in school, and even then, they just passed by as shoes for school regulations. They had to have at least twenty holes in the bottom, and the fabric had been long since worn out. It blew my mind to see Forrest actually wearing brand new, black tennis shoes that had the Pokemon League symbol on them, outside none the less.

"Since when do you wear shoes?" I questioned.

"Since shop keepers don't let me in their stores without shoes," Forrest retorted.

Wow, Forrest was actually sustaining a conversation with me. That had to be a record, but I guess going on a Pokemon journey does boost your confidence.

Sadly, I spoke too soon. Forrest started clutching her arm, and she searched the area for an escape route. LightHero on the other hand seemed to be having quite the conversation with Froakie. LightHero had changed considerably since I had first seen him. He seemed to be braver and more active.

"So, are you challenging the gym too?" I asked; trying to spark the conversation again.

"Yeah, um, LightHero really seemed to want to challenge it," Forrest replied shyly.

LightHero wanted to? Well, I guess that made sense.

I decided that now was as good a time as any to ask, "Um, do you think I could borrow one of your pokemon that you weren't going to use for the gym battle?" I knew it was risky to ask something like that, but I needed another pokemon to battle the gym.

"Why would you need one of my pokemon? Besides, that sounds like it's against the rules," Forrest replied.

"Well, I kinda wasn't able to catch any pokemon on the way here because of, uh, certain circumstances," I stated sheepishly. "And, technically, it's not against the rules." I had read the rule handbook at least a hundred times, and it only said that using other's pokemon was highly discouraged, not against the rules.

Forrest stared at me; still not comprehending the situation.

"You do know that you need two pokemon to challenge this gym, right?" I questioned.

"Oh," Forrest stated; just now realizing why I needed to borrow one of her pokemon. "I only have LightHero."

That statement instantly shot my hopes down. Now I would either have to brave out to route 3, not likely, or go out to route 22 where the ace trainers prowled. Ace trainers are trainers that have been training their pokemon for a while, and they just loved to nail inexperienced trainers in battle. If you were smart, you stayed away from route 22 until you collected all eight badges. I would have went to route 4, but the gym leader's sister was there. She somehow always blocks young trainers' paths if they didn't at least challenge her sisters gym. I neither knew how or why she did that.

Forrest saw my crestfallen expression and stated, "Perhaps I could let you borrow LightHero, and then tomarrow, you can let me borrow Froakie. The gym leader will probably never know."

My hopes shot back up, but then-

"Who wouldn't know what?"

My hopes were shot down again as I turned around to the gym to see non other than Viola, the Santalune gym leader. I had met her once before when she came to visit my parents, and she hadn't changed a bit. Her hair exploded behind her in a bowl-like style and strands of hair that framed her face were curled at the tips. Her olive green eyes seemed cool and leveled, but any one who knew her knew that she was not level headed at all. She had a major obsession with photography, and sadly, I learned about that obsession when Malva was over. Not a good time. Viola wore a white tank top and green cargo pants that had bulging pockets from being stuffed with photography equipment. Her muddy boots showed that she had been out walking earlier today.

"Hi, Viola," I greeted sheepishly. "Um, I don't know if you remember-"

Viola cut me off and exclaimed, "You're the boy who I took pictures of with Malva! I must say, you looked great in that dress."

Viola's eyes glimmered with amusement as my cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and I could have sworn I heard Forrest's LightHero making strange snickering sounds from behind me. I didn't turn around though; I had more important mattering going on in front of me.

Viola's eyes calmed again as she stated, "So, I see that you and your friend where planning to borrow each other's pokemon. You know that is highly discouraged."

I rubbed the back of my head and stated, "Well, you see-"

Viola cut me off again, "Don't worry, plenty of trainers have this happen to them. How about you two team up to face me in a double battle?"My hopes shot up again. I could still battle the gym, and Viola wasn't even mad about my idea to borrow pokemon. If my mom and dad heard about this, I would never hear the end of it.

"Thanks," I replied gratefully.

Viola smiled and stated, "Your welcome. Now, let's have a gym battle, Calem and..." Viola paused since she didn't know Forrest.

"Forrest."

Viola nodded in reply to Forrest saying her name and commented, "Forrest, that's an interesting name." Viola stared at Forrest for a moment and then shook her head. "Well, let's get started."

Viola opened the gym doors with gusto and clomped inside. Forrest and I followed her inside to see a fairly large room with beautiful photos of plants and bug type pokemon. The flooring was decorated with silhouettes of different bug type Pokemon with wings. There were two status, with the Pokemon League symbol on them, in front of a square hole that sat in the center of room. A thick white rope, that looked to much like an Ariados's string for my liking, led down to the floor below.

Voila grabbed onto the rope and slid down to the floor below. I looked over to Forrest, my eyebrow raised, who shrugged and followed Viola in suit. I saw LightHero tighten his grip on Forrest's leg as she slid down the rope. I took a deep breath.

"Now or never. Let's do this Froakie." With that, I slid down the silky rope with Froakie clutching my shoulder in a vice grip.

-Forrest-

Calem landed loudly behind me, and I smiled slightly. I had seen Calem's cautious glance when he had eyed the silky rope and heard his cry of shock when he found out that the "rope" was actually string from an Ariados.

"Wow, this place is really cool," I heard LightHero excitedly state. I couldn't help but agree with LightHero. The gym's battle arena was amazing; it reminded me of a rain forest that someone would see in a magazine. Giant leaves hung from the walls of the battlefield, and every kind of plant imaginable was in the room. In the center of the battle field was a giant spider web stretched over a dark, still pool of sorts. I peered into the pool but all that stared back was inky blackness.

Viola had somehow reached a platform on the other side of the battle field and called out, "You guys ready for a battle?"

I took another quick glance over the field from the platform I was standing on. The web didn't seem to be sticky; in fact, it seemed bouncy. The pool below could be an asset for Calem's Froakie, but I didn't know whether Froakie would be able to see in the dark water. LightHero would have better luck using the bouncy web to quickly avoid attacks and reply with his own. I reassured myself with the fact that this was a bug-type gym. LightHero should have no problem.

I looked over to Calem to see if he was ready, and he stated, "Let's get started."

Viola smiled and threw out two pokeballs while shouting, "Come on out, Vivillon and Surskit!" Out of the pokeballs came a beautiful meadow pattern vivillon and an intense looking surskit.

My confidence for this battle suddenly plummeted. Surskit would do major damage to LightHero if I wasn't careful, and Vivillon would easily maneuver through the jungle. Still, I wasn't about to let LightHero down, and Froakie might be able to go against Surskit.

"Let's do this Froakie!"

Froakie jumped out onto the field saying, "I will fight till the end!"

"You ready LightHero?" I questioned.

"When wasn't I ready?" With that, LightHero jumped onto the field.

I didn't reply. I didn't want anyone to think I was crazy, or even worse, figure out that I actually could talk to pokemon. I had heard that a person from Unova could speak to pokemon, and the media had never left them alone. Plus, there had been many insecure trainers who asked the person to tell them what their pokemon were saying. I didn't want that to happen.

"Surskit, Vivillon, you know what to do!" Viola shouted, starting the battle.

Surskit slipped through the web and disappeared into the water, while Vivillon vanished in the foliage above the field. Viola's strategy seemed to be to have her pokemon until and pick us off at their leisure.

Calem must have reliezed this strategy since he commanded, "Froakie, go into the water and find Surskit!"

Froakie obeyed and disappeared in the murky water below the web. I knew that LightHero wouldn't be helpful in finding Surskit, so I thought about how to deal with Vivillon.

I couldn't think of anything at the moment, so I shouted, "LightHero, look out for Vivillon and dodge when she attacks!"

LightHero knew that what I had said was basically code for 'I have absolutely no idea on what to do', so he patiently listened to the noises around him.

Suddenly, Viola commanded, "Now!"

Vivillon shot out of the foliage, heading straight for LightHero. LightHero managed to dodge, and he even landed a light scratch to Vivillon's right wing as she disappeared again. Froakie hadn't been so lucky. He had been shot out of the water by Surskit, and Froakie rammed into the web. The web stretched out from the impact and shot Froakie back into the water a double the speed he had been shot out at. Froakie hit the water with a loud slap. Calem winced as if he had been hit as Froakie weakly resurfaced. At least Froakie had managed to keep swimming after the immense damage done to him.

I searched the arena over. I think I had an idea after seeing the web shoot Froakie back into the water. I knew that Viola would hate me afterwards, but I decided that anything was worth it to make LightHero happy.

"Calem, get Froakie out of the water." Calem looked at me with that what-exactly-are-you-planning look, but he apparently decided to trust my decision.

"Froakie, launch yourself out of the water with water pulse!"

Froakie leaped out of the water, and once he was in the air, he fired water pulse at the murky water to give him that little, extra boost to reach the web. Froakie grasped his webbed hand on the strings of the web and clambered through one of the many holes of the web.

"LightHero, I want you to jump onto Froakie's back!"

"What!" a confused Calem exclaimed.

LightHero jumped onto Froakie's back, and Froakie actually balanced perfectly. I was surprised to see Froakie's ease with LightHero on his back. LightHero was about the same size as Froakie.

"Froakie, you have to jump up as high as you can. Then, LightHero, spin around and use ember," I shouted.

Froakie glanced to Calem for conformation on the order. I guess he wanted to make sure his trainer was on board with the plan. Calem nodded, and Froakie sprung up into the air with LightHero clinging to his back. Soon Froakie had disappeared into the foliage above the spider web.

Voila, who for some reason had done nothing during the time Calem and I spent conveying information, stood there watching with a faint smile on her face. My heart constricted as I thought of the possibility that Voila had a trap waiting. I looked to where LightHero and Froakie had disappeared to with amounting dread. The seconds ticked by and nothing had happened, but suddenly, a small flame appeared. Then, the flame leaped from leaf to leaf to vine, becoming an inferno. Froakie and LightHero appeared from out of the burning foliage unscathed, and they landed bouncily on the web.

Voila's Vivillon wasn't so lucky. Vivillon fell from the raging inferno with burnt wings that flapped weakly and dropping antennas. Vivillon hit the web and lay there doing something similar to panting.

"You did great, Vivillon. Rest for now," Voila congratulated as she recalled vivillon to her pokeball. "I'm not out for the count yet. Surskit is still ready to go."

It was then that Surskit shot out of the water, making it easily onto the web, and shot a hard stream of bubbles at LightHero. Luckily for LightHero, Froakie jumped in the way of the attack, using his body as a human shield. LightHero's eyes widened in surprise as the bubbles slammed into the already weakened Froakie. Froakie fell limply to the floor; he had fainted.

LightHero stared at the fainted Froakie with disbelief. I guess he thought the strong, detiremened froakie would never fall. LightHero's disbelief soon turned to a detiremenation of his own as he turned towards Surskit with a raging fire in his eyes. He then charged towards Surskit with abandon.

Surskit charged up another round of bubbles, and I cautioned, "Look out, LightHero."

LightHero didn't head the warning and kept running towards Surskit. Just as Surskit was about to let loose the bubbles, flame surrounded LightHero as he was charging Surskit. Surskit popped all of his bubbles in surprise, and he was promptly slammed into with one of the most powerful flame charges I had ever seen. Surskit was sent flying, and he slammed into the wall right behind Voila. Surskit lay on the ground, fainted.

I stood there, uncomprehending, for a moment before bursting out in joy. We had won. We had actually won. I could see LightHero panting happily from his place on the field, and Calem's eyes gleamed in excitement as he returned Froakie to his pokeball.

"Good job, Froakie. I'll take you to the Pokemon Center right away," Calem stated.

LightHero weakly walked over to me, and I cradled him in my arms.

LightHero yawned and tiredly stated, "I'm tired." With that, LightHero's eyes drooped down, and he fell asleep.

Voila walked expertly across the spider web, and once she reach the platform we were standing on, she declared, "Congradulations, you have beat the Santalune gym, and now I bestow upon you the Santalune gym badge." Voila handed each of us a badge that looked like a brown bug with two green stones in each wing. "You can leave from the door behind my platform whenever you are ready." With that, Voila bounced across the web and disappeared through the sliding doors behind her platform.

After about thirty minutes of carefully inching across a giant spider web with a sleeping fire type, who would never let me hear the end of it if I dropped him into the water, in hand, I finally reached Voila's platform with Calem right behind me. I had no idea how Voila manages to skip across that web so easily. Calem and I opened the sliding door and walked into the room at the front of the gym.

"I've gotta go, but perhaps we'll see eachother another time," Calem stated and ran off to the Pokemon Center.

I walked out the gym doors and breathed in the fresh air. One gym down, seven more to go.


End file.
